Your weekly edit
In the world of the Booker Prizes this week: we reflect on David Lodge's legacy; 10 novels exploring the passage of time; take our Burns Night quiz; and mark your diaries for the IBP longlist reveal
David Lodge's 1989 Booker Prize speech: 'The prize is situated on a dangerous, glamorous interface'
‘Being published, getting recognition and favourable reviews, was the limit of my ambition. Perhaps it still is for most new writers of literary fiction. But now they may aspire to something more. The climate of the 1980s has created a new phenomenon, the literary bestseller, often written by a comparatively young or previously unknown writer, and the Booker Prize has contributed to that climate.’
To celebrate the legacy of Booker Prize-shortlisted author David Lodge following his death earlier this month, we revisit his speech from the 1989 winner ceremony. Here, as Chair of judges, he explored how the prize sparks a vital discussion that extends far beyond the literary world.
10 Booker-nominated novels that explore the passage of time
From sweeping multi-generational epics to intimate chronicles of a single lifetime, we’ve compiled a list of 10 Booker Prize and International Booker Prize-nominated novels that span decades and centuries and reveal a world in a constant state of flux. Depicting tragic losses, great love affairs, societal upheaval and the complexities of everyday existence, these compelling works explore the transformative nature of time, revealing humanity’s deepest triumphs and tragedies.
A Booker Prize quiz for Burns Night
How many Scottish authors have won the Booker Prize three times? Which Booker winner often paired a Scottish single malt whisky with milk? And which novel takes its title from a poem by Robert Burns himself?
If you think you know your Shuggie from your Spark, test your wits in our quiz that celebrates all things Scotland, just in time for Burns Night (Saturday, 25 January!).
Dates for your diary: The International Booker Prize 2025
Mark your calendars: in one month’s time, on 25 February, the longlist for the International Booker Prize 2025 will be announced.
The 12 or 13 works of fiction, translated from a wide range of languages into English and published in the UK and Ireland, will be chosen by this year’s judging panel, chaired by bestselling Booker Prize-longlisted author Max Porter. He is joined by prize-winning poet, director and photographer Caleb Femi; writer and Publishing Director of Wasafiri, Sana Goyal; author and International Booker Prize-shortlisted translator Anton Hur; and award-winning singer-songwriter Beth Orton.
The longlist will be announced on thebookerprizes.com and our social channels at 2pm (GMT). We hope to see you there, too – we can’t wait!
One concerning development after David Lodge's important recognition of the literary market place, is the trend of literary prize committees to favor and reward novels of "relevance" -- so that issues of the moment become the most significant measure of literary value. Novels that propound an ideology in vogue rather than explore complexities often win out. Sound social or political theory is not necessarily great literature. Scholars who study the sociology of literature will have interesting things to say about prizes versus classics, one hundred years from now.
Adore David Lodge. Once I discovered him, I read everything. The other books on the Booker list are excellent, with one exception. II will never understand why anyone liked A Little Life. I have never loathe a book until I read this one.