Percival Everett’s The Trees is shortlisted. Photo: Ulf Andersen/Getty Images
The Booker Prize, an award for the best English-language novel, has announced the shortlist of finalists from five countries and four continents. American authors Percival Everett for The Trees and Elizabeth Strout for Oh William! The satirical novel The Trees examines racism against African Americans in the small town of Money, Mississippi, the same town where Emmett Till was lynched in 1955. Two black detectives investigate a series of deaths in Money that mirror Till’s murder. Previous winners of the prestigious literary award have included Margaret Atwood and George Saunders.
While the literary award originated in England and was previously only awarded to writers from Britain, Ireland, the Commonwealth and Zimbabwe, in 2014 the committee extended the eligibility to any novel written in the English language, so long as the book is published in the UK or became Ireland. A third of all finalists are American since the eligibility change, including this year’s shortlist.
The full shortlist is below:
NoViolet Bulawayo’s fame
Percival Everett’s The Trees
Alan Garner’s Treacle Walker
Shehan Karunatilaka’s The Seven Moons by Maali Almeida
Claire Keegan’s little things like this
Elizabeth Strout’s Oh William!
That #BookerPrize2022 Pick list: pic.twitter.com/8DCqrUB3Uj
— The Booker Prizes (@TheBookerPrizes) September 6, 2022