The shortlist for The 2016 Man Booker Prize has been announced! This year’s list consists of six titles that have been chosen from the thirteen titles appearing in the longlist. Here is the shortlist:

Paul Beatty –The Sellout

Deborah Levy –Hot Milk

Graeme Macrae Burnet –His Bloody Project

Ottessa Moshfegh –Eileen

David Szalay –All That Man is

Madeleine Thien –Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Winning The Man Booker Prize is an incredible accolade for any writer –it guarantees inter
national recognition and an increase in sales. Last year’s winner, A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James had a 933% increase in sales, with 12,466 physical copies sold in the week following his win.

The Man Booker Prize was established in 1968, originally known as the Booker-McConnell Prize. In 2002, the administration of the prize was transferred to the Booker Prize Foundation, sponsored by investment company Man Group. The judges for the Man Booker Prize vary each year, they are chosen by The Booker Prize Advisory Committee. The judges usually represent all aspects of the literary and arts world. For instance, this year’s judges include a writer, a literary professor, a historian an actor and a columnist.

This year’s shortlist is an exciting one. All six titles are diverse story-wise, but are all connected by their interest in the world at large.

Hot Milk tells the story of a daughter’s relationship with her hypochondriac mother. Deborah Levy’s novel is heavily shrouded with symbolism and twisted humor, a hypnotic story that is very compelling for the readers.

Paul Beatty’s The Sellout challenges the principles of the United States Constitution through a compelling tale of racial equality and a person’s remarkable life journey in the ghetto outskirts of Los Angeles.

Eileen is a psychological thriller about a woman who feels trapped in life and finds relieve in her perverse fantasies. Riddled with black comedy, Eileen is a sinister yet unexpectedly funny novel.

Graeme Macrae Burnet courtroom drama about murders taking place during 1869 is enticing and masterfully told. Its psychological crime plot is character-driven and very engaging.

Madeleine Thien’s Do Not Say We Have Nothing is a powerful story about Chinese history and the impact it has on the novel’s protagonist. It is filled with complexity, wisdom and a heartbreaking tale that is difficult to forget.

All That Man Is asks existential questions that every one has pondered at some point in life. It tells the tale of nine men at different stages in life, all asking the same questions: What is my life –here and now, all about?

The winner of the Man Booker Prize 2016 will be announced on the 25^th of October!