The Booker Prize 2023 - awards night!

Each year the Booker Prize is given to the author of a novel written in the English language and published in the UK and Ireland. Similar to other high profile literary awards, authors with works nominated typically enjoy increased readership when named to the longlist or shortlist. You can learn more about the Booker Prize on their website. They also provide video of actors reading excerpts from the shortlisted novels here.

The awards are livestreamed on the Booker's own YouTube channel, beginning at approximately 9:00pm UK time or 4:00pm EST. We will updating this blog on the next business day to share the name of the winning author and the title of their novel.

Take a look at the list of finalists below and let us know which shortlisted titles you're cheering for, which ones you've read, and your thoughts on the novels.

UPDATE: Author Paul Lynch is awarded the 2023 Booker Prize for his novel, Prophet Song! The jury remarks include this statement by Chair of judges, Esi Edugyan: 

‘From that first knock at the door, Prophet Song forces us out of our complacency as we follow the terrifying plight of a woman seeking to protect her family in an Ireland descending into totalitarianism. We felt unsettled from the start, submerged in – and haunted by – the sustained claustrophobia of Lynch’s powerfully constructed world. He flinches from nothing, depicting the reality of state violence and displacement and offering no easy consolations. Here the sentence is stretched to its limits – Lynch pulls off feats of language that are stunning to witness. He has the heart of a poet, using repetition and recurring motifs to create a visceral reading experience. This is a triumph of emotional storytelling, bracing and brave. With great vividness, Prophet Song captures the social and political anxieties of our current moment. Readers will find it soul-shattering and true, and will not soon forget its warnings.’