In London, the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction has revealed its 13 semifinalists, including six American writers such as Rachel Kushner, Percival Everett, and Tommy Orange. Orange, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Cheyenne and Arapaho author, marks the first Native American Booker semifinalist with his epic “Wandering Stars.” Meanwhile, Everett’s “James” provides a fresh perspective on Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” from the viewpoint of Jim, the enslaved character.
Kushner, a previous Booker finalist for “The Mars Room” in 2018, is back in the running with her spy thriller “Creation Lake.” Richard Powers, another Pulitzer winner and previous Booker finalist, enters the competition with “Playground,” a narrative tackling money, power, and climate change on a Polynesian island. Rita Bullwinkel’s “Headshot” and Claire Messud’s “This Strange Eventful History” complete the U.S. lineup.
Among the contenders are writers from the U.K., Canada, Ireland, Australia, and the Netherlands, showcasing a diverse array of stories. The selection includes Anne Michaels’ “Held,” Hisham Matar’s “My Friends,” and Yael van der Wouden’s “The Safekeep,” making her the first Dutch Booker semifinalist.
Edmund de Waal, an artist, and writer chairing the judging panel, highlighted the theme of belonging, displacement, and return depicted in the novels, spanning various settings from an Irish town to a convent in Australia, and even exploring deep oceans and outer space.
Established in 1969, the Booker Prize is renowned for propelling writers’ careers and considers novels from any country that are published in the U.K. and Ireland. Last year’s recipient was Irish author Paul Lynch for “Prophet Song,” a post-democratic dystopian work. The list of six finalists will be disclosed on Sept. 16, with the ultimate winner being revealed on Nov. 12 during a ceremony in London.
American writers constitute nearly half of the 13 authors in contention as semifinalists for the Booker Prize in fiction
