Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ and Jonathan Escoffery are on the longlist for the Booker Prize 2023 announced today, Tuesday, August 1, 2023.
The Booker Prize for Fiction, founded in 1969, is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original novel written in the English language and published in the United Kingdom. Some of the previous winners of African descent have been Marlon James, Nadine Gordimer, J. M. Coetzee, Ben Okri, Bernadine Evaristo and Damon Galgut.
The jury for this year is chaired by novelist Esi Edugyan alongside Mary Jean Chan, poet, lecturer, editor, and critic; James Shapiro, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and author specialising in Shakespeare; and actor and writer Robert Webb.
The longlist for the award was announced today and the following writers of African descent made the cut;
- If I Survive You, Jonathan Escoffery
- A Spell of Good Things, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
“A Spell of Good Things is an examination of class and desire in modern-day Nigeria. While Eniola’s poverty prevents him from getting the education he desperately wants, Wuraola finds that wealth is no barrier against life’s harsher realities. A powerful, staggering read,” the judges said of Ayobami’s book.
On Jonathan Escoffery’s If I Survive You they said, “An astonishingly assured debut novel from Jonathan Escoffery, lauded by the panel for its clarity, variety and fizzing prose. Jamaican husband and wife Topper and Santa flee from the troubles of their 1970s Caribbean home to make a new life in Miami with their sons Delano and Trelawney. In the remorseless, laugh-out-loud code switching of the recently arrived, they attempt to survive America and each other, as the reader is confronted with the immigrants’ eternal questions: who am I now and where do I belong?”
Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ said, “A Spell of Good Things has been longlisted for the Booker Prize!!! Thrilled to be in stellar company.”
Jonathan Escoffery tweeted, “It’s early AM in CA, so I haven’t quite found the words, but thank you, everyone, for this outpouring of love & support for this incredible honor. Thank you @TheBookerPrizes & judges, & thx to @KishWidyaratna & @4thEstateBooks for believing IF I SURVIVE YOU was worthy of the honor.”
The shortlist of six books will follow on September 21 before the winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced at an event at Old Billingsgate, London, on November 26, 2023.
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