The Man Booker Dozen

Much excitement in the Fourth Estate camp at the inclusion of Nicola Barker’s Darkmans on this year’s Man Booker Prize longlist.

Nicola is one of our most exciting and original literary talents and this novel completes her visionary narratives of the Thames Gateway which she began with the Dublin IMPAC award winning Wide Open in 2000.

The longlist has been scaled down to a more manageable 13 novels this year and has certainly been stirring up a lot more interest in the press at this stage.

Alex Clark picked it out as her favourite in this weekend’s Observer, she also did a brilliant interview with Nicola at publication which you can read here:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2067715,00.html

For details of the longlist in full, check out the Man Booker Prize’s lovely new website:

The Man Booker Prize 2007