The Bookmark S5E11: The Booker Award

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It's Chris' favorite season of the year! This episode we're discussing the Booker Award!

For the last 15 years, Chris has speculated what will end up on the Booker Award long and short lists and tries to read at least all of the books on the short list. If given enough time, he'll also try to predict nominees and read ahead, but he says he's a slow reader, so he doesn't often get to all 13 titles on the long list. Chris then concentrates on the short list of six titles when it is announced. Every year brings a new panel of judges, so it's not always easy to predict which books will make it.

The Booker Award used to be called the "Man Booker Award" because the award was then sponsored by a company called "Man," but is now just the Booker Award. The International Booker Award is a separate award for books in translation.

To be considered for the Booker Award, the book has to be submitted by its publisher. Americans have only been considered for the last 10 years, but now any book in English can be submitted.

Listen in as our hosts spend some time discussing past winners. Chris summarizes each of the books that made this year's short list and Autumn gives her predictions on who's winning this year.

Books we discussed in this episode

What’s Next?

The next episode of The Bookmark drops Nov 27, 2023!

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Meet your Hosts

Autumn Friedli, Chris Blocker and Miranda Ericsson relish talking books with recurring readers and special guests from the library and community in The Bookmark.

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