A longlist of 13 books — the Booker’s dozen — was recently announced by the Man Booker judging panel. The list was whittled down from more than 150 submissions.

Mohsin Hamid has been nominated for his fourth novel, Exit West. His first nomination for the prize was 10 years earlier in 2007 for The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

Kamila Shamsie’s first-time nomination comes for her seventh novel, Home Fire.

One of the most prestigious prizes in the literary world, the Man Booker has undergone several changes since it was first introduced in 1969. Along with a name change in 2002, the monetary amount was increased from £21,000 to £50,000. The rules for submission were modified in 2013; initially only British, Irish, Zimbabwean and Commonwealth fiction writers were eligible. The current criteria is that the novel must have been written originally in English (translations do not qualify) and published in the United Kingdom by a registered imprint or publishing house (self-published works do not qualify), regardless of the author’s nationality. As a result of this change, Paul Beatty became the first American to win the prize for his book The Sellout in 2016.

The Man Booker International Prize, on the other hand, is awarded to translated works of fiction, both full-length novels and collections of short stories, published by a UK imprint or publishing house. The prize money is divided equally between the author and the translator.

The other books on the 2017 Booker’s dozen are The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy, 4321 by Paul Auster, Days Without End by Sebastian Barry, History of Wolves by Emily Friedlund, Solar Bones by Mike McCormack, Reservoir 13 by John McGregor, Elmet by Fiona Mozley, Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, Autumn by Ali Smith, Swing Time by Zadie Smith and The Underground Railroad by Coulson Whitehead.

The shortlist of six books will be ann­ounced in Sep­tember, and the winner will be ann­­ounced in October.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, August 6th, 2017