The 2015 Man Booker International Prize finalists will be announced in Cape Town, in partnership with the University of Cape Town, on 24 March, and there is a full calendar of Man Booker-related events to look forward to.
The news of the announcement first broke a year ago. Over the years, the event has taken place in Toronto, New York and Sydney, but this a first for Africa.
The Man Booker International Prize, sometimes referred to as an “alternative Nobel”, differs from the Man Booker Prize in that it honours a body of work, as well as the writer’s contribution to international fiction.
The £60 000-prize was first awarded in 2005, and is given out every second year.
Nigeria’s Chinua Achebe, who won the 2007 Man Booker International Prize, is the only African to have won the award so far, in a year that Nadine Gordimer was one of the judges. Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong’o was shortlisted for the prize in 2009 (the award that year ultimately went to Canadian author Alice Munro).
South African-born author Justin Cartwright was on the judging panel in 2011, and Marie NDiaye, of French and Senegalese parentage, was one of the 10 finalists in 2013.
Albania Ismail Kadare was the inaugural winner, followed by Achebe, Munro, Philip Roth (United States, 2011) and Lydia Davis (United States, 2013).
The 2015 judging panel includes South African-born, UK-based novelist and critic Elleke Boehmer. British novelist Marina Warner will be chairing the panel, which includes British Pakistani novelist Nadeem Aslam, American editorial director Edwin Frank and literature professor Wen-chin Ouyang, who was born in Taiwan, raised in Libya and is now based in the UK.
In celebration of the announcement, UCT will be hosting a series of associated events (note: some require an RSVP):
Public seminar
Reading the Booker: Reflections from Southern Africa
- Date: Wednesday, 11 March 2015
- Time: 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
- Venue: Arts Block
Upper Campus
UCT - Participants: Sarah Nuttall and Percy Zvomuya conversation with Imraan Coovadia
- Refreshments: Refreshments will be served
- More information: head-english@uct.ac.za
Announcement of the Man Booker International Prize 2015 finalists
Chair of the 2015 judging panel Dame Marina Warner announces the Man Booker International finalists at a press conference opened by the dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Sakhela Buhlungu.
- Date: Tuesday, 24 March 2015
- Time: 11:00 AM
- Venue: Ben Beinert Room
Otto Beit Building
Upper Campus
UCT - More information: truda.spruyt@fourcolmangetty.com or pat.lucas@uct.ac.za
Graduate workshop
The cultural industry and literary value
This UCT graduate workshop with Elleke Boehmer and Edwin Frank is open to limited numbers of graduate students from other programmes or universities on a pre-booked basis.
- Date: Tuesday, 24 March 2015
- Time: 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM
- Venue: Arts Block
Upper Campus
UCT - RSVP: sandra.young@uct.ac.za
Public seminar
Arabian Nights and Indian Ocean World Literatures
- Date: Wednesday, 25 March 2015
- Time: 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM
- Venue: Room 116, Arts Block
Upper Campus
UCT - Participants: Elleke Boehmer, Wen-Chin Ouyang and Marina Warner in conversation
- Refreshments: Refreshments will be served
- More information: head-english@uct.ac.za
Creative writing workshop
Postcolonial Style
This MA in Creative Writing workshop with Nadeem Aslam and Elleke Boehmer is open to limited numbers of graduate student fiction writers from other programmes or universities on a pre-booked basis.
- Date: Thursday, 26 March 2015
- Time: 10:00 AM to 12 PM
- Venue: Arts Block
Upper Campus
UCT - More information: imraan.coovadia@uct.ac.za
Public panel discussion
The Man Booker International Prize 2015 and World Literature from the Global South
In recognition of Man Booker’s first partnership on the African continent and the global scope of the International Prize, the 2015 judging panel will discuss world literature from the perspective of the south and the role of the Man Booker International Prize in shaping the global literary field.
- Date: Thursday, 26 March 2015
- Time: 5:00 PM for 6 PM
- Venue: Jameson Hall
Upper Campus
UCT - Participants: Marina Warner, Nadeem Aslam, Elleke Boehmer, Edwin Frank, Wen-Chin Ouyang, Max Price
- More information: For any enquiries, contact Megan White-Galant at 021 650 3730 or megan.white@uct.ac.za
- RSVP: for admission to this event please book at www.uct.ac.za/events
Book Details
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EAN: 9780802123114
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EAN: 9780140241587
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- The Human Stain by Philip Roth
EAN: 9780099282198
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- The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis by Lydia Davis
EAN: 9780241950036
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