In this brilliantly unique book, four parallel and entirely different lives, a young boy grows up - again and again and again
By Paul Auster
The Man Booker Prize 2017
The 2017 Man Booker Prize was won by George Saunders for his polyphonic Lincoln in the the Bardo, proving perhaps that the dead can speak, eloquently. The short story writer’s first novel made him the second American to win the prize.
Saunders was already a lauded writer of short stories, novellas and essays when he won the prize with his, thus far, only novel. It tells of President’s Lincoln’s grief at the death of his son Willie and is set in the bardo, a state between death and reincarnation.
Having heard the Lincoln story, Saunders put off writing it for years until goaded into action by the fear of being (in his own words) ‘the guy whose own gravestone would read “Afraid to Embark on Scary Artistic Project He Desperately Longed to Attempt”’.
Lincoln in the Bardo
Winner of The Booker Prize 2017
- Published by
- Bloomsbury
Narrated by a chorus of voices, George Saunders’ startlingly original novel is a thrilling exploration of death, grief and the possibilities of life
The shortlist
Over a few days, a teenage girl makes a set of choices that will reverberate throughout her life in Emily Fridlund’s powerful and intense debut
Mohsin Hamid’s moving story of a refugee couple emerging into an alien and uncertain future, struggling to hold to their past, and to each other
By Mohsin Hamid
Fiona Mozley’s gripping debut about life on the margins in the wilds of Yorkshire and the power - and limits - of family loyalty
By Fiona Mozley
Narrated by a chorus of voices, George Saunders’ startlingly original novel is a thrilling exploration of death, grief and the possibilities of life
The longlist
4 3 2 1
by Paul Auster
Days Without End
by Sebastian Barry
History of Wolves
by Emily Fridlund
Exit West
by Mohsin Hamid
Solar Bones
by Mike McCormack
Reservoir 13
by Jon McGregor
Elmet
by Fiona Mozley
Ministry of Utmost Happiness
by Arundhati Roy
Lincoln in the Bardo
by George Saunders (prize winner)
Home Fire
by Kamila Shamsie
Autumn
by Ali Smith
Swing Time
by Zadie Smith
The Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead
The 2017 judges
The judging process
The panel of judges for the 2017 Man Booker Prize was chaired by Baroness Lola Young.
Other members of the judging panel included literary critic Lila Azam Zanganeh; Man Booker Prize shortlisted novelist, Sarah Hall; artist, Tom Phillips CBE RA; and travel writer, Colin Thubron CBE.
In the videos below, they discuss their experiences with creating the longlist and shortlist for 2017’s prize and how they came to a winner. You can also watch the moment the winner is announced at 2017’s ceremony.
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