Booker Judges Surprise with Debut Novels

The judges of Britain’s most prestigious literary award, the Booker, raised some eyebrows yesterday when it announced the titles on its longlist. From the Guardian:

Judges for this year’s Â£50,000 Man Booker prize threw one of the most remarkable surprises in its 39-year history at the public and publishing industry last night. They tore up nearly all predictions and disregarded virtually all star literary novelists with new books under their belts.
Waterstone’s called it a giant-felling list. The news will produce as much shock among literary agents as authors—and the editors who entered them with some confidence for yesterday’s long list.
Gone, for the most part, are the household names and in their place come four debut novelists who are among the lesser known authors on the reshaped longlist.
The judges issued a list of 13 books (smaller than the 18 of recent years) containing only one expected title: Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach. That novel instantly became William Hill’s 3/1 favourite to win the prize.

The short list will be announced on 6 September and the winner on 16 October. The longlist reads as follows:

Darkmans by Nicola Barker
Self Help by Edward Docx
The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
The Gathering by Anne Enright
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
Gifted by Nikita Lalwani
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn
Consolation by Michael Redhill
Animal’s People by Indra Sinha
Winnie & Wolf by A. N. Wilson