The Booker Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, celebrating excellence in English-language fiction written by authors from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries. The prize has a long and illustrious history, with its origins dating back to 1968, when Booker McConnell, a British food wholesaler and agricultural conglomerate, established the prize in partnership with the National Book League (now known as the Book Trust).
Over the years, the Booker Prize has undergone several changes and transformations, including its name, which was changed to the Man Booker Prize in 2002 following a sponsorship agreement with the Man Group, a global investment management firm. In 2019, the prize was renamed again as the Booker Prize, after the Man Group ended its sponsorship.
The Booker Prize is awarded annually to a novel that is judged to be the best work of fiction written in English and published in the UK or Ireland in the previous year. The prize is open to writers from all over the world, as long as their work is written in English and meets the eligibility criteria.
Winning the Booker Prize is considered a major achievement in the literary world and can greatly enhance a writer's reputation and career. In addition to a substantial cash prize (50,000 pounds as of 2023), the winner also receives considerable media attention and exposure, and their work is often translated into multiple languages and published in numerous countries.
Over the years, the Booker Prize has recognized many outstanding works of fiction, including classics such as Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children," J.M. Coetzee's "Disgrace," and Margaret Atwood's "The Blind Assassin." Recent winners include Douglas Stuart's "Shuggie Bain" (2020), Bernardine Evaristo's "Girl, Woman, Other" (2019), and Anna Burns' "Milkman" (2018).
The judging process for the Booker Prize is rigorous and highly respected. A panel of five judges is appointed each year, with the chair of the panel being a literary figure or critic. The judges are selected for their expertise in literature and their ability to read and assess a large number of novels over a short period of time. The judges' deliberations are confidential, and the winner is announced at a ceremony in London in October or November each year.
While the Booker Prize has been praised for recognizing some of the most outstanding works of fiction in the English language, it has also been criticized for being too focused on a narrow segment of the literary world and for ignoring important works of fiction from other regions and languages. Nevertheless, the Booker Prize remains a highly regarded and coveted award, and winning it remains a significant achievement for any author.
| Year | Book | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida | Shehan Karunatilaka |
| 2021 | The Promise | Damon Galgut |
| 2020 | Shuggie Bain | Douglas Stuart |
| 2019 | The Testament | Girl, Woman, Other | Margaret Atwood | Bernardine Evaristo |
| 2018 | Milkman | Anna Burns |
| 2017 | Lincoln in the Bardon | George Saunders |
| 2016 | The Sellout | Paul Beatty |
| 2015 | A Brief History of Seven Killings | Marlon James |
| 2014 | The Narrow Road to the Deep North | Richard Flanagan |
| 2013 | The Luminaries | Eleanor Catton |
| 2012 | Bring Up the Bodies | Hilary Mantel |
| 2011 | The Sense of an Ending | Julian Barnes |
| 2010 | The Finkler Question | The Elected Member | Howard Jacobson | Bernice Rubens |
| 2009 | Wolf Hall | Hilary Mantel |
| 2008 | The White Tiger | Aravind Adiga |
| 2007 | The Gathering | Anne Enright |
| 2006 | The Inheritane of Loss | Kiran Desai |
| 2005 | The Sea | John Banville |
| 2004 | The Line of Beauty | Alan Hollinghurst |
| 2003 | Vernon God Little | DBC Pierre |
| 2002 | Life of Pi | Yann Martel |
| 2001 | True History of the Kelly Gang | Peter Carey |
| 2000 | The Blind Assassin | Margaret Atwood |
| 1999 | Disgrace | J. M. Coetzee |
| 1998 | Amsterdam | Ian McEwan |
| 1997 | The God of Small Things | Arundhati Roy |
| 1996 | Last Orders | Graham Swift |
| 1995 | The Ghost Road | Pat Barker |
| 1994 | How Late It Was, How Late | James Kelman |
| 1993 | Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha | Roddy Doyle |
| 1992 | The English Patient | Michael Ondaatje |
| 1991 | The Famished Road | Ben Okri |
| 1990 | Possession: A Romance | A. S. Byatt | 1989 | The Remains of the Day | Kazuo Ishiguro |
| 1988 | Oscar and Lucinda | Peter Carey |
| 1987 | Moon Tiger | Penelope Lively |
| 1986 | The Old Devils | Kingsley Amis |
| 1985 | The Bone People | Keri Hulme |
| 1984 | Hotel du Lac | Anita Brookner |
| 1983 | Life & Times of Michael K | J. M. Coetzee |
| 1982 | Scherzo for Piano and Stick | Bharati Mukherjee |
| 1981 | Midnight's Children | Salman Rushdie |
| 1980 | Rites of Passage | William Golding |
| 1979 | The Sea, the Sea | Iris Murdoch |
| 1978 | The Sea Above, The Sky Below | Leonard Mears |
| 1977 | Staying On | Paul Scott |
| 1976 | Saville | David Storey |
| 1975 | Heat and Dust | Ruth Prawer Jhabvala |