The Booker Prize for Fiction is awarded each year for the best novel written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. It was established by the retail wholesaler Booker plc in 1968. To maintain the consistent excellence of the prize, judges are selected from critics, writers and academics. Since 2002, it has been known as the "Man Booker Prize", reflecting sponsorship by an investment company, the Man Group plc.

In the first 35 years of the Booker there were five years that fewer than six books were on the shortlist and two years (1980 and 1981) when there were seven on the shortlist.

The list of books that made the "long list" was first released in 2001. In 2003 there were 23 books on the long list, in 2002 there were 20 and in 2001 there were 24. Publishers can submit books and judges can call for books to be submitted. Last year 110 were submitted and another 10 were called.

Some other statistics, as of 2003:

• Over the 35 years there were a total of 201 novels on the short lists from 134 authors.
• Of the 97 nominated once, there were 13 winners and 3 co-winners.
• Of the 19 nominated twice, there were 7 winners and one two-time winner (J. M. Coetzee).
• Of the 10 nominated thrice there were four winners, 1 co_winner and 1 two_time winner (Peter Carey).
• Of the 5 four_time nominees, all but William Trevor have won once. The other four-time nominees are: Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, Thomas Keneally and Penelope Fitzgerald.
• The 2 five-time nominees are Margaret Atwood (first nominated in 1986 and won in 2000) and Beryl Bainbridge (nominated twice in the 1970s and three times in the 1990s, but never won).
• There was 1 six-time nominee: Iris Murdoch, who won on her fourth nomination in 1978 and was nominated twice more in the 1980s.

See also: List of winners and shortlisted authors of the Booker Prize for Fiction

See Also

• The Whitbread literary award

External links

• The official Man Booker Prize website (http://www.bookerprize.co.uk/)
• TurboBookSnob.com - provides information about the Man Booker Prize, predictions for the prize outcome, book recommendations, and literary links. (http://www.turbobooksnob.com/)
• Winners and shortlist of the Booker Prize for Fiction (http://www.almaz.com/booker/)