The 2008 Man Booker Prize

The White Tiger wins The 2008 Man Booker Prize for Fiction

Michael Portillo, Chair of the judges, made the announcement, which was broadcast live on the BBC Ten O’ Clock News (Tuesday 14 October), at the awards dinner at the Guildhall, London. Peter Clarke, Chief Executive of Man Group plc, presented Aravind Adiga with a cheque for £50,000.

First-time novelist, Aravind Adiga, hits the Man Booker jackpot

Aravind Adiga was  named the winner of the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for The White Tiger, published by Atlantic. The win was a first for publisher Atlantic.

The Indian writer is one of two first-time novelists on the 2008 Man Booker shortlist of six. The other is Steve Toltz. Only two other debut novelists have achieved this in the past - DBC Pierre in 2003 for his novel Vernon God Little and Arundhati Roy in 1997 for The God of Small Things.

There were 112 entries for the Man Booker Prize this year; 103 were submitted by publishers and nine were called in by the judges.

The other 2008 shortlisted titles were:

Author                                Title                                                             Publisher                    

Sebastian Barry               The Secret Scripture                                 Faber and Faber

Amitav Ghosh                   Sea of Poppies                                          John Murray

Linda Grant                       The Clothes on Their Backs                   Virago

Philip Hensher                 The Northern Clemency                           Fourth Estate

Steve Toltz                          A Fraction of the Whole                            Hamish Hamilton

Every year publishers are allowed to submit two books for the Man Booker Prize. Every former Booker Prize winner and any author who has appeared on the shortlist in the last ten years is also eligible

The V&A Museum is currently hosting an exhibition - The Booker 40 at the V&A - which tells the visual story of the prize over the years.  The display includes every book which has won since 1969 as well as a wide selection of shortlisted titles and one of the original Booker trophies. It examines what made ‘The Booker’ one of the most talked about and influential literary prizes in the English speaking world. It opened on 6th September and will run until 17th May 2009. For further information please visit www.vam.ac.uk.

The British Council is working towards the creation of an online collection of contemporary British literature and is in negotiation with publishers to include former winners of the Booker Prize and Man Booker Prize as e-books, which can be purchased. 

For further information and press enquiries please contact

Jill Cotton or Lucy Chavasse at Colman Getty

Tel: 020 7631 2666

E-mail: jill@colmangetty.co.uk / lucy@colmangetty.co.uk