Booker Prize facts for kids

The Booker Prize is a super important literary award given out every year. It celebrates the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. Winning this prize brings a lot of attention to the author and their book, which usually makes their book sell much more!

When the prize first started, only authors from certain countries like the Commonwealth, Ireland, and South Africa could win. But since 2014, any English-language novel published in the UK or Ireland can be considered.

Each year, a special group of five people chooses the winning book. These people are usually authors, librarians, literary agents, publishers, and booksellers. Being chosen for the "shortlist" (a smaller list of finalists) or even the "longlist" (a longer list of nominees) is a big honor for writers.

There's also a sister prize called the International Booker Prize. This award is for books that have been translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. The £50,000 prize money for this award is split between the author and the translator.

History of the Booker Prize

The Booker Prize started in 1969. It was first called the "Booker Prize for Fiction" because a company called Booker, McConnell Ltd sponsored it. Everyone just called it the "Booker" for short.

The very first winner was P. H. Newby in 1969 for his book Something to Answer For. In 1970, Bernice Rubens became the first woman to win the prize for her novel The Elected Member.

The rules changed a bit in 1971. Before that, books from the year before could win. But from 1971 onwards, only books published in the same year as the award could win. This meant books from 1970 were missed! So, in 2010, a special "Lost Man Booker Prize" was created to pick a winner from the books published in 1970.

In 1992, the judges picked two winners: The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje and Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth. After this, a new rule was made that only one author and one book could win the prize each year.

For a long time, the list of nominated books (the "longlist") was kept secret. But since 2001, the longlist has been announced publicly each year.

The Booker Prize used to be sponsored by Man Group from 2002 to 2019. Then, a new sponsor called Crankstart took over in 2019. This changed the name of the award back to simply "The Booker Prize."

In 2019, the judges again decided to split the prize, even though the rules said not to. They awarded it to two authors: Bernardine Evaristo for Girl, Woman, Other and Margaret Atwood for The Testaments. This was a big moment because Bernardine Evaristo was the first black woman to win the Booker Prize. Margaret Atwood also became the oldest winner at 79 years old.

How the Winners Are Chosen

Choosing the winner of the Booker Prize starts with a special committee. This group includes a writer, publishers, a literary agent, a bookseller, a librarian, and a chairperson. This committee then picks five people to be the judges for that year. The judges change every year. They are usually well-known literary critics, writers, and important public figures.

The winner of the Booker Prize is usually announced at a fancy dinner in London in early October. However, in 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony was broadcast online from a different location in November.

Booker Prize Winners

Special Booker Awards

Sometimes, special awards are given out for unique reasons:

• The Lost Man Booker Prize: As mentioned, books published in 1970 were missed when the rules changed. So, in 2010, a special award was given to J. G. Farrell's Troubles to fix this.
• Booker of Bookers: In 1993, for the prize's 25th anniversary, judges picked Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children (which won in 1981) as the "best novel out of all the winners."
• Best of Beryl: In 2006, a prize was created for author Beryl Bainbridge. She had been nominated five times but never won. Her book Master Georgie won this special award.
• The Best of the Booker: In 2008, for the 40th anniversary, the public voted for their favorite winner from a shortlist of six past winners. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie won again!
• Golden Man Booker: For the 50th anniversary in 2018, one book from each decade of the prize was chosen by judges. Then, the public voted, and The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje was chosen as the best of the best.

Images for kids

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  2015 logo of the then Man Booker Prize

See also

In Spanish: Premio Booker para niños

• International Booker Prize
• List of British literary awards
• List of literary awards
• Commonwealth Writers Prize
• Grand Prix of Literary Associations
• Costa Book Awards
• Prix Goncourt
• Governor General's Awards
• Scotiabank Giller Prize
• Miles Franklin Award
• Russian Booker Prize
• Samuel Johnson Prize (non-fiction)
• German Book Prize (Deutscher Buchpreis)