2013 Man Booker Prize

On 21 November 2012, it was announced that Robert Macfarlane would chair the panel of judges that would decide the winner of the 2013 award. Macfarlane declared that he felt "very proud indeed to be chairing this prize, which has done so much to shape the modern literary landscape."{{cite web|url=http://www.themanbookerprize.com//news/robert-macfarlane-chair-2013-man-booker-prize-fiction|title=Robert Macfarlane to chair the 2013 Man Booker Prize for Fiction|date=21 November 2012|publisher=Man Booker Prize|access-date=16 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914095457/http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/robert-macfarlane-chair-2013-man-booker-prize-fiction|archive-date=14 September 2013|url-status=dead}} On 17 December, he was joined by four other judges: biographer and critic Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes, journalist Martha Kearney, and writer, critic and reviewer Stuart Kelly. "Part of the reason the prize is heralded internationally", the announcement read, "is because the judges stand as a guarantee of literary weight and seriousness of intent." The judges' backgrounds – as academics, professional writers and journalists – were emphasized as essential to their role as reviewers.{{cite web|url=http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/man-booker-prize-2013-judges-revealed|title=Man Booker Prize 2013 judges revealed|date=17 December 2012|publisher=Man Booker Prize|access-date=16 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019180634/http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/man-booker-prize-2013-judges-revealed|archive-date=19 October 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} "We are all looking forward to the 10 months, 140 novels and many meetings and conversations that lie ahead of us," Macfarlane said, "as we search for the very best of contemporary fiction."{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20727568|title=Martha Kearney among Man Booker Prize judges|date=17 December 2012|publisher=BBC News|access-date=16 September 2013}}

• NoViolet Bulawayo for We Need New Names through Chatto & Windus
• Eleanor Catton for The Luminaries through Granta
• Jim Crace for Harvest through Picador
• Jhumpa Lahiri for The Lowland through Bloomsbury Publishing
• Ruth Ozeki for A Tale for the Time Being through Canongate
• Colm Tóibín for The Testament of Mary through Viking Press

On 15 October, the chair of the judges Robert Macfarlane announced that the winner of the 2013 Man Booker Prize was New Zealand author Eleanor Catton for her second novel The Luminaries.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24541612|title=Man Booker Prize: Eleanor Catton becomes youngest winner with The Luminaries|last=Masters|first=Tim|date=15 October 2013|work=BBC News|access-date=15 October 2013}} By winning, Catton became, at the age of 28, the youngest author ever to win the Booker. She was previously, at the age of 27, the youngest author ever to be shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/eleanor-catton-youngest-author-ever-shortlisted-for-booker-20130911-2tjjm.html|title=Eleanor Catton youngest author ever shortlisted for Booker|last=Morris|first=Linda|date=11 September 2013|work=The Age|publisher=Fairfax Media|access-date=19 September 2013}} At 832 pages, The Luminaries is also the longest work to win the prize in its 45-year history.

Catton is the second writer from New Zealand to win the prize, the first being Keri Hulme in 1985 with The Bone People. The judges' final decision was made after around two hours of discussion. Of The Luminaries, Macfarlane commented "It's a dazzling work. It's a luminous work. It is vast without being sprawling." Catton was presented with the prize by the Duchess of Cornwall at Guildhall in London. As winner, Catton also received award money to the sum of £50,000.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/business/media/at-28-eleanor-catton-is-youngest-man-booker-winner.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1382115285-TQ/YdaYYPtfoiB3cqr/gkA|title=At 28, Writer Is Youngest to Receive Booker Prize|last=Bosman|first=Julie|date=15 October 2013|work=The New York Times|access-date=18 October 2013}}

• List of winners and shortlisted authors of the Booker Prize for Fiction

{{Man Booker Prize}}

Man Booker

Category:Booker Prizes by year

Category:2013 awards in the United Kingdom