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21st November 2008

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Handful of débuts on Booker Dozen

29.07.08 Anna Richardson

The longlist for this year's Man Booker Prize for Fiction features 13 titles, with five newcomers, including Tom Rob Smith and Aravind Adiga, alongside Booker veterans such as Salman Rushdie.

The "Man Booker Dozen", which was revealed this afternoon (29th July) and is listed in full below, was chosen from 112 entries; 103 were submitted for the prize by publishers and nine were called in by the judges.

Chair of judges, former MP Michael Portillo, said: "The judges are pleased with the geographical balance of the longlist with writers from Pakistan, India, Australia, Ireland and UK. We also are happy with the interesting mix of books, five first novels and two novels by former winners. The list covers an extraordinary variety of writing."

The prize was revamped last year to increase its commercial appeal. Changes included cutting down the number of titles allowed on the longlist and a standalone marketing budged to promote the prize.

The shortlist will be announced on 9th September, and the winner is revealed on 14th October.

 

THE LONGLIST IN FULL:
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Atlantic)
Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold (Tindal Street)
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Faber)
From A to X by John Berger (Verso)
The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser (Chatto)
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (John Murray)
The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant (Virago)
A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif (Cape)
The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher (Fourth Estate)
Netherland by Joseph O’Neill (Fourth Estate)
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie (Cape)
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Simon & Schuster)
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz (Hamish Hamilton)

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