Man Booker Prize 2018 long list features Michael Ondaatje; includes graphic novel for first time

The 2018 Man Booker Prize long list is being noticed for its “willingness to take risks with form”. In a first, a graphic novel has been selected by the judges ahead of well-known authors who have previously made it to the list. [caption id=“attachment_4809161” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Michael Ondaatje. Facebook/MichaelOndaatje[/caption] The graphic novel in question is Nick Drnaso’s Sabrina, which focuses on the effect of 24-hour news coverage in the aftermath of the disappearance of a girl. Judges described it as “oblique, subtle [and] minimal”, adding that the changing nature of fiction meant that it was only time until a graphic novel was in the running for the Man Booker. Michael Ondaatje is among the other authors on the list with his latest novel Warlight. Ondaatje’s The English Patient, which won the Booker in 1992, was awarded the Golden Booker this month to mark the 50th anniversary of the prize. He is the only former winner to make it to this year’s list. The longlist for the prestigious literary prize announced on Tuesday, 24 July, includes six British writers, three from the United States, and two each from Canada and Ireland. It includes four debut novels and includes well-known American novelist Rachel Kushner. The list will be pared to six finalists in September and the winner will be announced on 16 October at a black-tie dinner at London’s Guildhall. The winner receives 50,000 pounds ($65,000). With inputs from the Associated Press