Booker Prize unveils 2022 shortlist, including oldest finalist ever
- Englishman Alan Garner, who will be 88 when the winner is announced, was shortlisted for Treacle Walker
- Other finalists include Zimbabwean novelist NoViolet Bulawayo and Sri Lanka’s Shehan Karunatilaka
Britain’s Booker Prize for fiction unveiled its final contenders for this year’s award Tuesday, featuring the oldest author and the shortest book ever to make the prestigious six-strong literary shortlist.
Octogenarian Englishman Alan Garner, who will turn 88 when the winner is announced on October 17, was shortlisted for Treacle Walker, which is the shortest finalist novel by word count.
Speaking about the overall shortlist, Neil MacGregor, chair of the 2022 judges, said: “They’re not easy books, even though they may be short. But like many great pleasures, some require hard work and we found them well worth the effort.”
Garner, who made his name with children’s fantasy titles and folk retellings, earned the nomination after six decades in print.
The shortlist, whittled down from a longlist of 13 announced in July, saw an equal split of men and women battling for the prize which can provide a career-changing boost in sales and public profile.