Amitav Ghosh on Tuesday emerged as the only Indian author among 10 finalists for this year’s Man Booker International Prize for his contribution to the English language writing. Kolkata-born, 58-year-old Ghosh had narrowly missed out on the Booker Prize back in 2008 when he was shortlisted for his work Sea of Poppies.
The international version of the popular literary prize, to be held in london on May 19, is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language.
The winner is chosen solely at the discretion of the judging panel and there are no submissions from publishers. “This is a most interesting and enlightening list of finalists,” said Jonathan Taylor, Chairman of the Booker Prize Foundation. “For the first time authors included in the list are from 10 countries with six new nationalities,” said Taylor.