The official shortlist for the 2015 Man Booker Prize was unveiled today at a press conference in London, continuing last year’s new policy of allowing all authors writing in English and of any nationality to be considered, making for quite a diverse list, with four of the six finalists being non-white, topping last year’s record of three.
Although the 13-book longlist featured five Americans (including Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Tyler) and three Brits, both have been left with two authors each in the shortlist.
Nigerian Chigozie Obioma is the youngest nominee at 28 (the same age Canadian Eleanor Catton was in 2013 when she won for The Luminaries), having been shortlisted for his debut novel, while Marlon James is the first Jamaican-born author to be nominated.
