Yann Martel on writing Life of Pi: 'You want a sense that it was written in one breath'

In an exclusive interview, the 2002 Booker Prize winner Yann Martel talks about the unique planning process behind his best-known novel — and making the fantastic feel believable

Scene from the 2012 film Life of Pi, directed and produced by Ang Lee

Welcome to the online home of the Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize, the leading literary awards for single works of fiction

Since 1969, almost 600 books have been longlisted for the Booker or International Booker Prize, bringing recognition to authors and translators from all over the world – and introducing readers to works of quality fiction that have, in many cases, changed their lives. Here you will find practical information about the prizes, authors and their work, as well as in-depth features that will guide you towards your new favourite book

Exclusive features from the Booker Library

Why those who dismiss V.S. Naipaul as a defender of colonialism should take a closer look at his writing

V.S. Naipaul was a complex and divisive figure, regarded by some as morally suspect and politically culpable – but it’s wrong to see him as an elegist for empire

'I knew where the good stuff was': Thomas Keneally on how he researched and wrote Schindler's Ark

Yann Martel on winning the Man Booker Prize for Life of Pi, October 2002

Yann Martel on writing Life of Pi: 'You want a sense that it was written in one breath'

Anita Desai: 'I thought the book would seem ghostly now, but it's all coming around again'

How Keri Hulme’s The Bone People changed the way we read now

Get ready for the 2022 Booker Prize

Essential information on the 2022 Booker Prize

Meet this year’s Booker Prize judges and find out when the longlist, shortlist and winner will be revealed

The 2022 International Booker Prize

Shortlisted translators, 2022 International Booker Prize

The art of translation

As Tomb of Sand wins the 2022 International Booker Prize, readers and translators tell Sarah Shaffi how translated literature can help us learn more about ourselves and each other

Daisy Rockwell, translator, and Geetanjali Shree author of Tomb of Sand

Why Tomb of Sand won the 2022 International Booker Prize and why you should read it – according to our judges

Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree_shortlist

The International Booker Prize effect: how Tomb of Sand made literary history

Watch the 2022 ceremony

More information on 2022 International Booker Prize

Winner The International Booker Prize 2022

Tomb of Sand

By: Geetanjali Shree
Translated by: Daisy Rockwell

An urgent yet engaging protest against the destructive impact of borders, whether between religions, countries or genders. Translated by Daisy Rockwell.

This is a luminous novel of India and partition, but one whose spellbinding brio and fierce compassion weaves youth and age, male and female, family and nation into a kaleidoscopic whole

Frank Wynne, chair of the judges

The 2022 International Booker Prize ceremony in pictures

Shortlisted authors 2022 International Booker Prize

Shortlisted authors Bora Chung, Mieko Kawakami, Jon Fosse, Geetanjali Shree and Claudia Piñeiro at the 2022 International Booker Prize Ceremony

© David Parry/PA

Geetanjali Shree (author) wins The 2022 International Booker Prize for Tomb of Sand

Geetanjali Shree wins the 2022 International Booker Prize for Tomb of Sand

© David Parry/PA

Booker judges Viv Groskop, Petina Gappah, Frank Wynne, Jeremy Tiang and Merve Emre at the 2022 International Booker Prize ceremony

© David Parry/PA

Shortlisted books and trophies at the 2022 International Booker Prize ceremony

© David Parry/PA

Shortlisted author Bora Chung with translator Anton Hur at The 2022 International Booker Prize Ceremony.

© David Parry/PA

Translator Daisy Rockwell and author Geetanjali Shree, winners of the 2022 International Booker Prize for the novel Tomb of Sand

© David Parry/PA

Shortlisted author Mieko Kawakami with translators David Boyd and Sam Bett at The 2022 International Booker Prize Ceremony.

© David Parry/PA

Damion Searls, translator, with Jon Fosse, author of A New Name: Septology VI-VII, shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022.

© David Parry/PA

Rozanna Madylus from Ukraine performs at The 2022 International Booker Prize Ceremony.

© David Parry/PA

Shortlisted translators David Boyd, Sam Bett, Frances Riddle, Daisy Rockwell, Anton Hur and Damion Searls at the 2022 International Booker Prize Ceremony

© David Parry/PA

Frances Riddle, translator, with Claudia Piñeiro, author of Elena Knows, shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022

© David Parry/PA

Geetanjali Shree, winner of the International Booker Prize 2022 for Tomb of Sand

Geetanjali Shree, winner of the International Booker Prize 2022 for her novel Tomb of Sand

© David Parry/PA

Nicki Bedi host of The 2022 International Booker Prize Ceremony.

© David Parry/PA

International Booker Prize event 2022.

© Jen Topping/Booker Prize Foundation

Rozanna Madylus from Ukraine performs at The 2022 International Booker Prize Ceremony.

© David Parry/PA

Geetanjali Shree, winner of the International Booker Prize 2022 for her novel Tomb of Sand.

© David Parry/PA

Daisy Rockwell (translator) wins The 2022 International Booker Prize for Tomb of Sand

Daisy Rockwell wins the 2022 International Booker Prize for her translation of Geetanjali Shree’s novel Tomb of Sand

© David Parry/PA

Meet the 2022 International Booker Prize winners

Geetanjali Shree

Geetanjali Shree is the author of three novels and several story collections, and her work has been translated into English, French, German, Serbian and Korean.

Daisy Rockwell

Daisy Rockwell is a painter, writer and translator living in Vermont, US.

The 2022 International Booker Prize shortlist

Heaven

by Mieko Kawakami

Translated by Sam Bett David Boyd

Elena Knows

by Claudia Piñeiro

Translated by Frances Riddle

A New Name: Septology VI-VII

by Jon Fosse

Translated by Damion Searls

Tomb of Sand

by Geetanjali Shree (prize winner)

Translated by Daisy Rockwell

The Books of Jacob

by Olga Tokarczuk

Translated by Jennifer Croft

Cursed Bunny

by Bora Chung

Translated by Anton Hur

Watch our videos

Watch the 2020 Booker Prize ceremony, in which Douglas Stuart wins the prize with his book, Shuggie Bain.

The Booker Prize 2002 full ceremony, in which Yann Martel wins the prize with his book, Life of Pi

Kazuo Ishiguro Wins The 1989 Booker Prize for The Remains of the Day

Watch the full Channel 4 broadcast of the controversial 1985 Booker Prize winning ceremony, including interviews with the shortlisted authors and the deeply divided judges.

The moment Damon Galgut wins the 2021 Booker Prize.

Chair of the 1991 judging panel Jeremy Treglown welcomes Ben Okri to the stage to collect the Booker Prize for The Famished Road.

‘Despite the violence… I find it to be a book of some considerable joy.’ Author Keri Hulme shares her thoughts on her powerful and influential 1985 Booker Prize-winning novel, The Bone People, including the relationships between the main protagonists – both Māori and Pākehā (white people).

Watch the 1991 Booker Prize ceremony, originally broadcast by the BBC as a Late Show special, in which Martin Amis makes his first appearance as a shortlisted writer, and Ben Okri wins for The Famished Road.

Watch the moment Keri Hulme’s The Bone People is announced as the 1985 Booker Prize winning book, and hear Hulme’s immediate reaction just after on the phone to Hermione Lee.

The full ceremony from 1992, in which Michael Ondaatje wins the prize with The English Patient.

The 2021 Booker Prize

Find out more about Damon Galgut

Damon Galgut has won the Booker Prize 2021 with The Promise, on his third time of being shortlisted for the award. Find out more about the author, his work and his inspiration here.

Line up of - from left - Patricia Lockwood, Richard Powers, Nadifa Mohamed, Damon Galgut, Maggie Shipstead and Anuk Arudpragasam at Southbank Centre.

The 2021 Booker shortlisted authors, live and in person

Behind the scenes: the Booker and book binding

Gifted new talent to direct films for the 2021 Booker Prize ceremony

The 2021 Booker Prize Judges

Winner The Booker Prize 2021

The Promise

By: Damon Galgut
Published by: Chatto & Windus

Brutal emotional truths hit home in Damon Galgut’s deft, powerful story of a diminished family and a troubled land.

I'd like to accept this on behalf of all the stories told and untold, the writers heard and unheard, from the remarkable continent I'm part of. Please keep listening to us, there's a lot more to come

— Damon Galgut accepting the Booker Prize 2021, November 3 2021

The 2021 Booker Prize shortlist

Discover past winners in the Booker Library

Shuggie Bain

Explore the backstory to Douglas Stuart’s blistering debut, which won last year’s Booker Prize

The Bone People

Booker winner Bernadine Evaristo declared the winner of the 1985 prize ‘one of my all-time favourite books’.

Girl, Woman, Other

Bernadine Evaristo’s witty, dynamic and utterly irresistible novel of our times

Schindler's Ark

Thomas Keneally’s remarkable historical fiction about an unlikely war hero

A Brief History of Seven Killings

Marlon James’ mesmerising account of the attempted assassination of a reggae legend

Wolf Hall

The first volume of Hilary Mantel’s superb trilogy about the dangerous court of Henry VIII

The Famished Road

Ben Okri’s mystical evocation of the spirit world that hovers between life and death

Disgrace

J.M. Coetzee explores the unforeseen consequences of the careless abuse of power

The ultimate prize to win in the English speaking world

J.M. Coetzee, winning for the second time in 1999

Yann Martel on writing Life of Pi: 'You want a sense that it was written in one breath'

Exclusive features from the Booker Library

Why those who dismiss V.S. Naipaul as a defender of colonialism should take a closer look at his writing

'I knew where the good stuff was': Thomas Keneally on how he researched and wrote Schindler's Ark

Yann Martel on writing Life of Pi: 'You want a sense that it was written in one breath'

Anita Desai: 'I thought the book would seem ghostly now, but it's all coming around again'

How Keri Hulme’s The Bone People changed the way we read now

Get ready for the 2022 Booker Prize

Essential information on the 2022 Booker Prize

The 2022 International Booker Prize

The art of translation

Why Tomb of Sand won the 2022 International Booker Prize and why you should read it – according to our judges

The International Booker Prize effect: how Tomb of Sand made literary history

Watch the 2022 ceremony

More information on 2022 International Booker Prize

Tomb of Sand

The 2022 International Booker Prize ceremony in pictures

Meet the 2022 International Booker Prize winners

Geetanjali Shree

Daisy Rockwell

The 2022 International Booker Prize shortlist

Heaven

Elena Knows

A New Name: Septology VI-VII

Tomb of Sand

The Books of Jacob

Cursed Bunny

Watch our videos

The 2021 Booker Prize

Find out more about Damon Galgut

The 2021 Booker shortlisted authors, live and in person

Behind the scenes: the Booker and book binding

Gifted new talent to direct films for the 2021 Booker Prize ceremony

The 2021 Booker Prize Judges

The Promise

The 2021 Booker Prize shortlist

The Promise

No One Is Talking About This

A Passage North

Bewilderment

Great Circle

The Fortune Men

Discover past winners in the Booker Library

Shuggie Bain

The Bone People

Girl, Woman, Other

Schindler's Ark

A Brief History of Seven Killings

Wolf Hall

The Famished Road

Disgrace