Critics count number of authors on Man Booker longlist
Book reviewers across the UK have discovered that there are 13 authors on this year's Man Booker Prize longlist.
As part of an annual tradition, book critics across the UK responded to yesterday’s Man Booker Prize longlist announcement by counting the number of longlisted authors, finding a grand total of 13.
“Unfortunately, seven of those authors identify as female,” revealed the Guardian’s Petula Smettington, “and six identify as male. Seven is one more than six, so we had to postpone the angry article I’d written about the inexorable rise of the patriarchy. You’ll probably have a chance to read that one next year, but for now you can join our debate about whether books with pictures are really literature.”
The Telegraph’s Damien de Pfeffel-Smith, working under a cunning pseudonym (Damo), has been extremely active in the aforementioned Guardian online debate. “I wouldn’t even let my four-year-old sister read a picture book, so I’m baffled by the inclusion of a so-called graphic novel on this year’s longlist. The Booker, presented by Man Group plc, has really sold out this time.”
Meanwhile, Irish critic Caoimhe O’Connell counted the number of Irish authors on the longlist. “There are three Irish authors on this year’s longlist,” she told us.
There also happen to be three American authors on the longlist, but the only US-based reviewer available for comment revealed that he’d never heard of the Man Booker Prize and “couldn’t give a shit which no-name hacks are on your list.”
An official spokesperson for the Prize confirmed that this was the strongest longlist ever, and praised the judges' commitment to widening the boundaries of literature.