Nigerian writer, Chigozie Obioma, has been announced as one of the 2021 Booker Prize judges.
The panel of judges, chaired by historian Maya Jasanoff, includes writer and editor Horatia Harrod, actor Natascha McElhone, and writer and former Archbishop Rowan Williams.
Obioma stated: “Truly truly honored to be on the judging panel for next year’s Booker prize. As one of the very lucky writers to have been nominated, I can attest to the life changing impact such a nomination can have on a writer’s career. I’m glad I get to help impact others. And what a great group led by @jasanoff with Horatio, Natascha and Rowan!”
Obioma was shortlisted twice for the Booker Prize, first for his debut novel, ‘The Fishermen’, and then his sophomore, ‘An Orchestra of Minorities’.
Jasanoff said: “In the pandemic more than ever, reading fiction has been a great source of stimulation and solace. It’s both a pleasure and an incredible honour to get to roam the pages of this year’s Anglophone novels and shine a light on extraordinary books and writers – and to do so in the company of such accomplished fellow judges feels like a gift.”
The judging panel will be looking for the best work of long-form fiction, selected from entries published in the UK between 1 October 2020 and 30 September 2021.
The ‘Booker Dozen’ of 12 or 13 books will be announced in July 2021 with the shortlist of six books to follow in the autumn. The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced in November 2021.
‘Shuggie Bain’ by Douglas Stuart was winner of the 2020 Booker Prize. In the first full week after the announcement, the book sold more than 25,000 copies in the UK, a 1900% increase on the week preceding the announcement. It has now sold more than 80,000 copies in the UK, an overall increase of 234% on its pre-announcement sales.
Nigeria’s Ben Okri won the Booker Prize in 1991 for ‘The Famished Road’. In 2019, another Nigerian, Bernardine Evaristo, won the award for ‘Girl, Woman Other’ alongside Margaret Atwood who was joint winner for ‘The Testaments’.
