About the prize
How the Man Booker Prize for Fiction transforms the fortunes of writers.
The Man Booker Prize promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding the very best book of the year. The prize is the world's most important literary award and has the power to transform the fortunes of authors and even publishers....
The winner of the Man Booker Prize 2009 is Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall.
Aravind Adiga won the prize in 2008 and his novel, The White Tiger, went on to become one of the fastest selling novels in the prize's history. Anne Enright, who won the prize in 2007 for her novel The Gathering, embarked on a world tour following her Man Booker triumph. Kiran Desai, who won the prize in 2006 for The Inheritance of Loss, has also toured the world since winning. In 2005, John Banville's The Sea saw sales of over a quarter of a million and the publisher has reported a dramatic increase in Banville's backlist sales. In 2004, not only did Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty reach the bestseller lists, but previous winners Life of Pi (2002) and Vernon God Little (2003) were also amongst the bestselling books of the year.
The prize, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008, aims to reward the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. The Man Booker judges are selected from the country's finest critics, writers and academics to maintain the consistent excellence of the prize. The winner of the Man Booker Prize receives £50,000 and both the winner and the shortlisted authors are guaranteed a worldwide readership plus a dramatic increase in book sales.
The Man Booker Prize is sponsored by Man Group plc. Man is a world-leading alternative investment management business. With a broad range of funds for institutional and private investors globally, it is known for its performance, innovative product design and investor service. Man manages around $42 billion. The original business was founded in 1783. Today, Man Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100 Index with a market capitalisation of around £4 billion. Man Group is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the FTSE4Good Index.
Man Group supports many awards, charities and initiatives around the world, including sponsorship of the Man Booker literary prizes. In the year to March 2010 the Man Group plc Charitable Trust continued to fund innovative projects for children and adults that improve literacy. Donations were made to support the "Every Child a Reader" reading recovery programme, Dyslexia Action, The Mayor's Fund for London, National Literacy Trust and St Petrock's (Exeter). The Trust also supports the RNIB Talking Books Service, enabling the production and distribution of Talking Book formats of the shortlisted titles of the Man Booker Prize.
Further information can be found at http://www.mangroupplc.com/
