The Irish author Kevin Barry is among the nominees to make this year's Booker Prize longlist.
His latest novel Night Boat to Tangier is among 13 books in contention for the prestigious award. He spoke to Jonathan Healy this morning:
The Limerick-born author's latest book is described by Booker judges as a "rogue gem of a novel" and a "story of misdeeds, madness and loss that swells with poetry and pathos".
Other prominent authors to make the list include Margaret Atwood for her upcoming Handmaid's Tale sequel The Testaments, and the British-Indian author Salman Rushdie for Quichotte.
Eight women - Margaret Atwood, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Lucy Ellmann, Bernardine Evaristo, Deborah Levy, Valeria Luiselli, Elif Shafak and Jeanette Winterson - made the longlist, along with five men - Kevin Barry, John Lanchester, Chigozie Obioma, Max Porter and Salman Rushdie.
A shortlist of six books will be announced in September, with the overall winner announced the following month.
Chair of the 2019 judges, Peter Florence, said: "If you only read one book this year, make a leap. Read all 13 of these.
"There are Nobel candidates and debutants on this list. There are no favourites; they are all credible winners.
"They imagine our world, familiar from news cycle disaster and grievance, with wild humour, deep insight and a keen humanity."
He added: "These writers offer joy and hope. They celebrate the rich complexity of English as a global language. They are exacting, enlightening and entertaining. Really – read all of them."
The winner of the Booker Prize receives £50,000 (€56,000), while all shortlisted nominees receive £2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book.
Last year's Booker winner was Milkman by Northern Irish writer Anna Burns, and the novel has now sold more than half a million copies.
This year marks the first Booker Prize since the end of sponsorship by long-time sponsor the Man Group, and the award is now backed by charitable foundation Crankstart.
