Four first novels compete for the award

The organizers of the Booker Literary Prize announced that among the six books selected for the final stage of the contest, four are the first products of their authors, dealing with various topics such as climate change, racism and family relationships.

Finalists include This Mournable Body by Tsetsi Dangarembga of Zimbabwe, the third part of a trilogy about the story of a young Zimbabwean in poverty. As for the four writers who share their first novels, they are the Americans Diane Cook, Avni Duchy and Branden Taylor, in addition to Douglas Stewart, who also has American citizenship.
Diane Cook’s fictional novel The New Wilderness is about a city struggling with the effects of a climate crisis. The writer is currently working on adapting a script for her book, after Warner Bros Studios purchased the rights to produce a series based on it.
Avni Duchi’s Burt Sugar explores the complex relationship between mother and daughter in contemporary India. Mazza Mengisti will be the first Ethiopian writer to reach the final of “Booker”, after her family’s story was inspired to write The Shadow King, which is about the uprising of ordinary citizens against the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in the decade 1930.
The events of Douglas Stewart’s novel “Shaggy Bean” revolve around a working-class family in Glasgow, facing poverty and alcoholism in the 1980s. The writer himself grew up in the Scottish city before going to work. in the world of fashion in New York.
And in “Real Life” by American Brandon Taylor, the story of “Wallace”, a young, withdrawn, racist face is just entering college, far from his hometown, Alabama.
The selection of these works came after the jury read a total of 162 novels published in Great Britain or Ireland between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020.
The winner’s name is expected to be announced on November 17, and he will receive a prize of about $ 65,000, in addition to confirmed international fame.