Mantel wins Man Booker!

Hilary Mantel has became the first British author, and the first woman, to win the Man Booker Prize twice. 'Bring Up The Bodies' beat five other shortlisted titles including the favourite, Will Self’s 'Umbrella'.

In 'Bring up the Bodies', sequel to the Man Booker Prize-winning 'Wolf Hall' and part of a trilogy, Mantel explores one of the most mystifying and frightening episodes in English history: the destruction of Anne Boleyn.

The award judges described the winning title as a "remarkable" book that "transcends the work already written by a great English writer".

The 2012 Man Booker Prize started with a longlist of 145 novels, later reduced to a shortlist of six as follows;

• Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists (Myrmidon Books)
• Deborah Levy, Swimming Home (And Other Stories/Faber & Faber)
• Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies (Fourth Estate)
• Alison Moore, The Lighthouse (Salt)
• Will Self, Umbrella (Bloomsbury)
• Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis (Faber & Faber) (not in stock, sorry!)

What the press has to say:

• Hilary Mantel wins Man Booker for historical fiction sequel (irishtimes.com)
• Hilary Mantel wins Man Booker Prize for a record second time (telegraph.co.uk)
• Hilary Mantel's second Booker winner is just the latest in a brilliant catalogue (guardian.co.uk)
• Hilary Mantel makes history as bloody tale of Tudor times wins her second Man Booker Prize (independent.co.uk) 

About:

The Man Booker Prize is one of the world's most famous literary prizes for contemporary fiction. Awarded to the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland.

And...

by the way, the longlist for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2013 will be announced on the 12th November! Watch this space! This award, the largest and most international of its kind, is administered by Dublin City Public Libraries.