American dominance of Man Booker Prize longlist 'confirms worst fears'

The number of British contenders is halved to just three while American authors lead the field in the second year since the rules changed

The three homegrown contenders are Andrew O'Hagan, Sunjeev Sahota and Tom McCarthy
The three homegrown contenders are Andrew O'Hagan, Sunjeev Sahota and Tom McCarthy Credit: Photo: Handout

American authors dominate the Man Booker Prize longlist this year for the first time, confirming widely expressed fears that Britons would be side-lined following a controversial rule change.

Five Americans feature on the list while the number of British and Irish writers has been halved to a total of four.

David Godwin, a leading literary agent whose clients include former winner Arundhati Roy said it was “absolutely tragic” that the very essence of the prize had been compromised in such a way.

“Our worst fears have come to pass,” he said. “The Booker prize was established to celebrate British and Commonwealth writers but they are the real casualties here. They have been overwhelmed.

“Its nature has changed dramatically and the consequences are really tragic. There was absolutely no need to change the rules. None of the major American prizes are open to Brits. It’s a very sad state of affairs.”

The three homegrown contenders are Tom McCarthy, Andrew O'Hagan and Sunjeev Sahota. Ireland’s Anne Enright, who won in 2007 with The Gathering, is an early favourite.

But three British authors widely expected to feature; Pat Barker, Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro, have all been snubbed.

Until last year, the prize was restricted to authors from the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland, but the fiction award was opened up to writers of any nationality writing in English.

The change prompted concerns that the prize, traditionally considered a platform for writing from Africa and Asia, had lost its identity.

Howard Jacobson, who won in 2010 with The Finkler Question and made last year’s shortlist with J, was among those who publicly criticised the rule change as the "wrong decision" amid fears of an American invasion.

Broadcaster and author Melvyn Bragg said he was "disappointed" with the change and that the Booker would lose its distinctiveness. “It's rather like a British company being taken over by some worldwide conglomerate," he said at the time.

Jim Crace, who was nominated for Harvest in 2013, said something would be “lost” if the prize was opened up to American authors novelist Philip Hensher said Americans would dominate ''simply through an economic superpower exerting its own literary tastes”.

In the end, fears that the culturally dominant Americans would drive out the competition proved unfounded last year, when just four native writers made the longlist. But the shift this year is exacerbated by the unusually low number of British authors, which has only been matched once before, in 2013.

Although this year’s list is skewed in favour of Americans, it is also dominated by women. Seven female authors appear on the list of 13, compared to just three in 2014.

The list comprises books by five Americans, three Britons, and one each from Ireland, Nigeria, India, New Zealand and Jamaica. It features three debut writers; Bill Clegg, Chigozie Obioma and Anna Smaill.

Of the Britons, two are Booker veterans. McCarthy, whose book C was shortlisted in 2010, is back in contention with Satin Island.

O'Hagan was shortlisted for his novel Our Fathers in 1999 and longlisted for Be Near Me in 2006. He is back in the running with The Illuminations, about an 82-year-old woman with early-stage dementia and her grandson who is serving in Afghanistan.

James is the first Jamaican-born novelist to make the cut. His novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings, tells the story of the attempted assassination of Bob Marley.

But Americans Marilynne Robinson and Hanya Yanagihara were installed as the early bookmakers’ favourites.

Michael Wood, chair of the judging panel, an author and academic, said he understood why many felt aggrieved about the enlarged pool of entrants.

“I am sympathetic to that view,” he said. “But it’s much better to have a bigger prize for English language books. I think that’s a better deal.

“I think the fear was that predictable Americans would dominate, the ones who win all the prizes but that is not the case here.

“There’s a slight fallacy about the idea that if it’s open to other people they will automatically take over. It’s more volatile than that. It depends how many good writers there are.”

Wood said discussions “weren’t always peaceful” but were always friendly.

“The longlist could have been twice as long, but we’re more than happy with our final choice,” he added.

“The range of different performances and forms of these novels is amazing. All of them do something exciting with the language they have chosen to use.”

Notable omissions include Harper Lee's Go Set A Watchmen and Kazuo Ishiguru's The Buried Giant, as well as forthcoming novels from William Boyd, Margaret Atwood and Jonathan Franzen.

Anne Meadows, an editor at Granta Books, said there were some "startling" British omissions.

"There are a number of brilliant British books that aren't on the list," she said.

"The rule change does make it harder and harder for British writers to make an impact and I think we do need to think about how we curate our culture.

"But it is a beautifully international list and perhaps that is something we should celebrate. Perhaps we have got to let go of this idea that the Booker is a purely British prize, but maybe we need something to fill that gap."

Philip Hensher, the author whose semi-autobiographical novel The Northern Clemency was shortlisted in 2008, said that as far as he was concerned, the Booker was "over".

"If anybody thinks that the best known American novelists are in need of promotion in this country then they have lost their marbles," he said.

"British writers and readers who want to discover things will lose interest, I think it's all but over.

"I am sure the prize will go to an American this year. Will that be important to the American market? We shall find out.

"I'm positive about the future of literature but Publishers are just going to have to think of new ways to promote it.

"Along with many other novelists, I have no interest in it any more and would not submit anything with any expectation that it will be acknowledged."

The Man Booker prize awards £50,000 to the novel the judges believe to be the best book written in English. Last year’s winner was Australian Richard Flanagan for his wartime novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

Judges will now re-read the books and announce a shortlist on September 15. The winner named on 13 October.