Dear reader,
The moment we’ve been building up to all year has finally arrived: the winner of the Booker Prize 2022 has been announced! And it is…
Shehan Karunatilaka, for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida.
The award ceremony took place at the Roundhouse in London, in the presence of a wide range of book-lovers including Her Majesty The Queen Consort, Dua Lipa, Sophie Duker and the winners of the Booker Prize Book Club Challenge, the Chwaeroniaeth club from Swansea.
The road to this result has been extraordinary. This year’s Booker judges have formed an incredible team: at their final meeting they were sad to disband, and to be separated from the books that had kept them company. They had come to find that reading, a private act, had become bigger and richer when it was done in a group, and as they showed one another what each of the novels they read could be.
‘We’re going to show that you can find a diamond anywhere in the world,’ said one - and the 170 novels they read have indeed originated in many parts of the globe. Finally, their longlist of 13 undiminished in spirit, they settled on a single gem: a book they were excited to press into the hands of readers everywhere.
We saw parts of this experience reflected in the wonderfully insightful and energising contributions of the six groups shortlisted for the Booker Prize Book Club Challenge, and by all of you who have been active online, engaging with the books and making your predictions. Much more than in the past, this Booker year has felt like a shared venture. Long may that continue!
My thanks to you, to the judges, and to this year’s shortlisted and longlisted authors. Please stay tuned for much more from us about the winning book, as well as further whispers from the Booker Library.
Meanwhile, congratulations to the Booker Prize 2022 winner, Shehan Karunatilaka!
With joy,
Gaby Wood
Director of The Booker Prize Foundation
Note from the Editor: Click on the links below for highlights of the event and an interview with the prize winner:
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