And the winner of the 2020 Booker Prize is . . .
From a longlist dominated by debuts came a shortlist dominated by debuts, and from that shortlist comes our winner, also a debut! The winner of the Booker Prize is:
Douglas Stuart, Shuggie Bain (Scotland-US)
(Looks like the bookies were right.) Stuart is the second Scottish writer to win the prize. Listen to him read from Shuggie Bain and discuss it with Garrard Conley here.
Shuggie Bain was selected by a panel of five judges: Margaret Busby (chair), editor, literary critic and former publisher; Lee Child, author; Sameer Rahim, author and critic; Lemn Sissay, writer and broadcaster; and Emily Wilson, classicist and translator.
The other shortlisted books were:
Diane Cook, The New Wilderness (US)
Tsitsi Dangarembga, This Mournable Body (Zimbabwe)
Avni Doshi, Burnt Sugar (US)
Maaza Mengiste, The Shadow King (Ethiopia-US)
Brandon Taylor, Real Life (US)