Northern Irish writer Anna Burns wins 2018 Booker Prize for 'Milkman'
London, Oct 17 : Author Anna Burns has won the Man Booker Prize for her novel 'Milkman', becoming the first author from Northern Ireland to win the most prestigious English-language literary award.
Burns, 56, who was born in Belfast, is the 17th woman to bag the award in its 49-year history and the first woman since 2013. It was her third novel.
'Milkman', a coming of age story of a young woman's affair with a married man set in the political troubles of Northern Ireland, was named the winner at a lavish awards ceremony here on Tuesday night.
"None of us has ever read anything like this before. Anna Burns' utterly distinctive voice challenges conventional thinking and form in surprising and immersive prose," said Kwame Anthony Appiah, the chair of the 2018 judging panel.
"It is a story of brutality, sexual encroachment and resistance threaded with mordant humour. Set in a society divided against itself, 'Milkman' explores the insidious forms oppression can take in everyday life," he said.
The recipient of the Man Booker Prize gets 52,500 pounds (USD 69,223 or Rs 50.85 lakh).
Burns, who lives in East Sussex in England, saw off competition from two British writers, two American writers and one Canadian writer.
Set in an unnamed city, 'Milkman' focuses on a "middle sister" as she navigates her way through rumour, social pressures and politics in a tight-knit community.
Burns shows the dangerous and complex impact on a woman coming of age in a city at war. Unusually, in the book, the characters have designations rather than names.
Burns explains: "The book didn't work with names. It lost power and atmosphere and turned into a lesser or perhaps just a different book.
"In the early days I tried out names a few times, but the book wouldn't stand for it. The narrative would become heavy and lifeless and refuse to move on until I took them out again. Sometimes the book threw them out itself".
Her novel beat competition from 'Everything Under' by Daisy Johnson, who, at 27, was the youngest nominee in the Man Booker prize history.
The other nominees were 'The Long Take' by Robin Robertson, 'Washington Black' by Esi Edugyan, 'The Mars Room' by Rachel Kushner, and 'The Overstory' by Richard Powers.
'Milkman' is published by Faber & Faber, making it the fourth consecutive year the prize has been won by an independent publisher.
Burns' win was announced by Kwame Anthony Appiah at a dinner at London's Guildhall. She was presented with a trophy by Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, and a 50,000 pounds cheque by Luke Ellis, Chief Executive of Man Group.
The winning author also receives a designer bound edition of her book and a further 2,500 pounds for being short-listed.
"We are honoured to support the Man Booker Prize for the sixteenth year, as it continues in its fiftieth year to champion literary excellence and the power of the novel on a global scale," Ellis said.
Appiah, a British-born Ghanaian-American novelist, was joined on the 2018 judging panel by crime writer Val McDermid; cultural critic Leo Robson; feminist writer and critic Jacqueline Rose; and artist and graphic novelist Leanne Shapton.
The judges considered 171 submissions for this year's prize.
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BS Yediyurappa appeals to MLA Yatnal's group to work unitedly to strengthen party
Bengaluru, Nov 26: With a group of Karnataka BJP leaders led by Bijapur MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal holding a parallel agitation over the waqf issue, veteran party leader B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday accused them of doing it because of their "self-conceit", and appealed them to work unitedly to strengthen the party.
The former Karnataka chief minister also said that everyone should take the responsibility for the party's defeat in the Assembly bypolls for three segments, even as the BJP's performance is being seen as a "setback" for his son and state president B Y Vijayendra.
"State president B Y Vijayendra has appealed to Basangouda Patil Yatnal and others to stop protesting separately, and work with us unitedly. Despite this, because of their self-conceit, they are doing such things. It is not right on their part," Yediyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "I appeal to them at least now to come forward and cooperate to strengthen the party together."
When told that they are not willing to work unitedly with the state's current leadership of the party and whether he will bring it to the notice of the high command, Yediyurappa said, "We will do our duty. The rest is left to them and central leadership...high command knows everything. Let's see what they will do."
Yatnal-led group include BJP MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi, B P Harish, and former lawmakers Aravind Limbavali, Kumar Bangarappa and G M Siddeshwara and others.
The leaders, who had stayed away from the protest recently held by the party on the Waqf issue, on Monday held a parallel agitation over the issue in Bidar. Today, they are in Kalaburagi district.
Yatnal and Jarkiholi have been openly critical of Vijayendra, accusing him of indulging in "adjustment politics" with the ruling Congress, and trying to keep the party in his clutches along with his father Yediyurappa.
Noting that the party had faced a setback in the bypolls for Sandur, Shiggaon and Channapatna, Yediyurappa said, "We accept that. What shortcomings were being discussed in the party. It should be ensured that such things don't repeat."
To a question whether the bypoll loss is being seen as a setback to his son Vijayendra, he said, "It is not a question of Vijayendra or Yediyurappa. The loss in all the three seats is a setback for us (party). Everyone should take the responsibility and see to it that such things don't repeat."
