Lost Man Booker Prize
Encyclopedia
The Lost Man Booker Prize was a special edition of the Man Booker Prize
awarded by a public vote in 2010 to a novel from 1970, described by The New York Times
as "an act of literary reparation". Books published in 1970 were not eligible for the Man Booker Prize due to a rules alteration; until 1970 the prize was awarded to books published in the previous year, while from 1971 onwards it was awarded to books published the same year as the award. The prize was won by J. G. Farrell for Troubles
.
Literary agent and archivist Peter Straus has been credited with conceiving the idea of a Man Booker Prize for the missing year after wondering why Robertson Davies
's 1970 novel Fifth Business
had not been included in the Man Booker Prize shortlist. A longlist of 21 titles was drawn up by organisers. A shortlist of six was selected by Rachel Cooke, Katie Derham
and Tobias Hill
, and revealed in London
on 25 March 2010 when voting commenced on the Man Booker Prize website. Voting closed on 23 April 2010. The winner was announced on 19 May 2010.
Four of the shortlisted authors were dead, with only Nina Bawden
and Shirley Hazzard
alive to give their reactions to being included. Bawden called it "astonishing actually ... I thought I knew all my books backwards but I couldn't remember what this one was about". Hazzard regretted that her husband, Francis Steegmuller, was no longer alive to witness the occasion. J. G. Farrell won the 1973 Man Booker Prize for The Siege of Krishnapur
. Bawden and Muriel Spark
were previously shortlisted. Tobias Hill said Patrick White
, noted for requesting that his name be struck off the 1979 Man Booker prize shortlist and known for his general disapproval of receiving awards, would be "spinning in his grave" if he had won the Lost Man Booker Prize for The Vivisector
. However, White's literary executor, Barbara Mobbs, said he had left behind "no written evidence" that he would disapprove of a posthumous award and that she was "not going to run around saying take him out".
, with 38 percent of the public vote. It received more than twice the number of votes for the second-placed entry. The prize came 40 years after the book's publication and 30 years after Farrell's death. The award of the prize was announced by Antonia Fraser
and accepted by Farrell's brother Richard. If Troubles had won the Man Booker Prize in 1970 Farrell would have been the first author to win it twice, as he won it in 1973 for The Siege of Krishnapur
. Farrell's literary agent claimed Farrell would have been "thrilled" to have won the prize.
Related articles
Man Booker Prize
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
awarded by a public vote in 2010 to a novel from 1970, described by The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
as "an act of literary reparation". Books published in 1970 were not eligible for the Man Booker Prize due to a rules alteration; until 1970 the prize was awarded to books published in the previous year, while from 1971 onwards it was awarded to books published the same year as the award. The prize was won by J. G. Farrell for Troubles
Troubles (novel)
Troubles is a 1970 novel by the English author J.G. Farrell. It won the Lost Man Booker Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Troubles concerns the dilapidation of a once grand Irish hotel , in the midst of the political upheaval during the Irish War of Independence .The novel is the first...
.
Literary agent and archivist Peter Straus has been credited with conceiving the idea of a Man Booker Prize for the missing year after wondering why Robertson Davies
Robertson Davies
William Robertson Davies, CC, OOnt, FRSC, FRSL was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters", a term Davies is variously said to have gladly accepted for himself...
's 1970 novel Fifth Business
Fifth Business
Fifth Business is a 1970 novel by Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor Robertson Davies. It is the first installment of the Deptford Trilogy and is a story of the life of the narrator, Dunstan Ramsay...
had not been included in the Man Booker Prize shortlist. A longlist of 21 titles was drawn up by organisers. A shortlist of six was selected by Rachel Cooke, Katie Derham
Katie Derham
Katie Derham is a British newscaster and a presenter on television and radio.-Early life:Derham was born in Stockport to John and Margaret Derham, and grew up in Wilmslow...
and Tobias Hill
Tobias Hill
Tobias Hill is an award-winning British poet, essayist, writer of short stories and novelist.-Life:Tobias Hill was born in Kentish Town, in North London, to parents of German Jewish and English extraction: his maternal grandfather was the brother of Gottfried Bermann, confidant of Thomas Mann and,...
, and revealed in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 25 March 2010 when voting commenced on the Man Booker Prize website. Voting closed on 23 April 2010. The winner was announced on 19 May 2010.
Four of the shortlisted authors were dead, with only Nina Bawden
Nina Bawden
Nina Bawden CBE is a popular British novelist and children's writer. Her mother was a teacher and her father a marine.-Life:...
and Shirley Hazzard
Shirley Hazzard
Shirley Hazzard is an Australian author of fiction and nonfiction. She was born in Australia, but holds citizenship in Great Britain and the United States...
alive to give their reactions to being included. Bawden called it "astonishing actually ... I thought I knew all my books backwards but I couldn't remember what this one was about". Hazzard regretted that her husband, Francis Steegmuller, was no longer alive to witness the occasion. J. G. Farrell won the 1973 Man Booker Prize for The Siege of Krishnapur
The Siege of Krishnapur
The Siege of Krishnapur is a novel by the author J. G. Farrell, published in 1973.Inspired by events such as the sieges of Cawnpore and Lucknow, the book details the siege of a fictional Indian town during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 from the perspective of the British residents...
. Bawden and Muriel Spark
Muriel Spark
Dame Muriel Spark, DBE was an award-winning Scottish novelist. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Early life:...
were previously shortlisted. Tobias Hill said Patrick White
Patrick White
Patrick Victor Martindale White , an Australian author, is widely regarded as an important English-language novelist of the 20th century. From 1935 until his death, he published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays.White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative...
, noted for requesting that his name be struck off the 1979 Man Booker prize shortlist and known for his general disapproval of receiving awards, would be "spinning in his grave" if he had won the Lost Man Booker Prize for The Vivisector
The Vivisector
The Vivisector is the eighth published novel by Patrick White, winner of the 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature. First published in 1970, it details the lifelong creative journey of fictional artist/painter Hurtle Duffield...
. However, White's literary executor, Barbara Mobbs, said he had left behind "no written evidence" that he would disapprove of a posthumous award and that she was "not going to run around saying take him out".
Shortlist
The shortlist as announced on 25 March 2010:- Nina BawdenNina BawdenNina Bawden CBE is a popular British novelist and children's writer. Her mother was a teacher and her father a marine.-Life:...
—The Birds on the TreesThe Birds on the TreesThe Birds on the Trees is a novel by Nina Bawden first published in 1970 about a middle-class English family whose 19 year-old son does not live up to his parents' expectations....
(Virago) - J. G. Farrell—TroublesTroubles (novel)Troubles is a 1970 novel by the English author J.G. Farrell. It won the Lost Man Booker Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Troubles concerns the dilapidation of a once grand Irish hotel , in the midst of the political upheaval during the Irish War of Independence .The novel is the first...
(Phoenix) - Shirley HazzardShirley HazzardShirley Hazzard is an Australian author of fiction and nonfiction. She was born in Australia, but holds citizenship in Great Britain and the United States...
—The Bay of NoonThe Bay of NoonThe Bay of Noon is a novel by the Australian author Shirley Hazzard, published in 1970. It was shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize in 2010.-Synopsis:A young Englishwoman, Jenny, is working in Naples some years after WW2...
(Virago) - Mary RenaultMary RenaultMary Renault born Eileen Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece...
—Fire from HeavenFire From HeavenFire from Heaven is a 1969 historical novel by Mary Renault about the childhood and youth of Alexander the Great. It reportedly was a major inspiration for the Oliver Stone film Alexander. The book was nominated for the “Lost Man Booker Prize” of 1970, "a contest delayed by 40 years because a...
(Arrow) - Muriel SparkMuriel SparkDame Muriel Spark, DBE was an award-winning Scottish novelist. In 2008 The Times newspaper named Spark in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".-Early life:...
—The Driver's SeatThe Driver's Seat (novel)The Driver's Seat is a novella by Muriel Spark. Published in 1970, it was advertised as "a metaphysical shocker". It is indeed in the psychological thriller genre, dealing with themes of alienation, isolation and loss of spiritual values....
(Penguin) - Patrick WhitePatrick WhitePatrick Victor Martindale White , an Australian author, is widely regarded as an important English-language novelist of the 20th century. From 1935 until his death, he published 12 novels, two short-story collections and eight plays.White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, shifting narrative...
—The VivisectorThe VivisectorThe Vivisector is the eighth published novel by Patrick White, winner of the 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature. First published in 1970, it details the lifelong creative journey of fictional artist/painter Hurtle Duffield...
(Vintage)
Winner
The prize was won by J. G. Farrell's TroublesTroubles (novel)
Troubles is a 1970 novel by the English author J.G. Farrell. It won the Lost Man Booker Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Troubles concerns the dilapidation of a once grand Irish hotel , in the midst of the political upheaval during the Irish War of Independence .The novel is the first...
, with 38 percent of the public vote. It received more than twice the number of votes for the second-placed entry. The prize came 40 years after the book's publication and 30 years after Farrell's death. The award of the prize was announced by Antonia Fraser
Antonia Fraser
Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, DBE , née Pakenham, is an Anglo-Irish author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction, best known as Antonia Fraser...
and accepted by Farrell's brother Richard. If Troubles had won the Man Booker Prize in 1970 Farrell would have been the first author to win it twice, as he won it in 1973 for The Siege of Krishnapur
The Siege of Krishnapur
The Siege of Krishnapur is a novel by the author J. G. Farrell, published in 1973.Inspired by events such as the sieges of Cawnpore and Lucknow, the book details the siege of a fictional Indian town during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 from the perspective of the British residents...
. Farrell's literary agent claimed Farrell would have been "thrilled" to have won the prize.
See also
External links
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