The Booker Prize, a prestigious literary prize that honors works of fiction in English, was awarded to British-Hungarian David Szalay for his sixth novel. Meatduring a ceremony in London, Monday 10 November evening.
He is the first Anglo-Hungarian writer to receive this prestigious award, equivalent to the French Goncourt, which is endowed with 50,000 pounds (56,800 euros). Born in 1974, she succeeds Britain’s Samantha Harvey, who was honored in 2024 with orbitalsa short work full of lyrics that follows six astronauts on a space station.
“This book is quite risky, I felt I was taking a risk by writing it”he said on stage, after searching for his words for a few seconds. Moved, he said he started writing this novel after abandoning other literary projects. “I felt a lot of pressure because I really wanted this to be a success”he added. Excerpts from the book, performed by rapper Stormzy, were broadcast during the ceremony.
Described as a single work by the jury president, Irishman Roddy Doyle, winner of the prize in 1993, Meat traces the life of a Hungarian, István, from his troubled youth in his native country to his return there in old age, with most of the story taking place in London, where he emigrated. This text, with its very neat writing, is a continuation of one of his previous works, It’s All Humanpublished in French in 2018 under the title What is human (Albin Michel). A critical success, it was shortlisted for the 2016 Booker.
“Life as a physical experience”
Meat offers insight into the lives of ordinary people and the torments they face. The author has stated that he wants to write “about life as a physical experience, about what it means to be a living body in the world”. Awarded since 1969, Booker Rewards contributing to the success of writers such as Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood and Arundhati Roy. It is also the promise of international fame that is synonymous with success in bookstores.
The author, who now lives in Vienna, stood out at the end of a selection that gave pride to established writers, three of whom have become finalists for the prestigious award.
Most importantly, he defied predictions in favor of India’s Kiran Desai and her family’s impressive story, Sonia and Sunny’s loneliness. The author, who took twenty years to write this new work, has established himself in 2006 with Inheritance of Loss (Loss of inheritance), published in French.
Another big contender is England’s Andrew Miller Soil in Wintera text that takes readers back to the 1960s, to the English countryside where a snowstorm hits and the lives of two couples are turned upside down.
Tuesday meeting with Queen Camilla
American Susan Choi, writer Flashlight, He also left empty-handed. Her book chronicles the shattered fate of a family, when Serk, a Korean born and raised in Japan who later went to live in the United States, disappeared on the shores of Japan with his ten-year-old daughter, Louisa.
Her compatriot Katie Kitamura also mysteriously failed to win Hearing. The same result occurred with British-American Ben Markovits and his book The Rest of Our Lives.
The six finalists will meet on Tuesday with Queen Camilla, who is involved in promoting reading with her foundation, who will welcome them to a reception also in the presence of members of the jury.
What’s new in 2025: organizers recently announced the launch of the Booker Prize for children, which aims to reward works of fiction aimed at readers aged 8 to 12, written or translated into English and published in the UK. The first prize will be awarded in 2027.
