John Berger and the 1972 Booker Prize controversy

In ‘Seeing G.’, a new film to mark the 50th anniversary of John Berger’s Booker win, Jo Hamya revisits the prize’s most controversial moment, reveals what happened to Berger’s prize money and explores the legacy and impact of his 1972 novel

John Berger’s decision to give away half of his £5,000 prize money in 1972 was one of the Booker’s most controversial moments. In this speech, delivered at the Café Royal in London after being announced as the winner, he set out the reasons behind his actions

Fifty years after John Berger won the Booker Prize for G. - and gave half of his prize money to the British Black Panthers - Jo Hamya casts a fresh eye over the controversy and looks for parallels between Berger’s Booker speech and the prize-winning novel itself

Anuk Arudpragasam, author of the 2021 Booker Prize-shortlisted A Passage North, on why he thinks John Berger’s 1972 Booker Prize-winning novel G. is ‘hugely impressive’.