2014 Man Booker Prize


The 2014 Man Booker Prize for fiction was awarded at a ceremony on 14 October 2014. Until 2014, only novels written in English and from authors in the Commonwealth, including the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe were eligible for consideration; however, from 2014 rules were changed to extend eligibility to any novel written in English. The longlist of 13 works included four from the United States of America, the first works from authors from outside the previous pool of eligible nations.

Judging panel

The panel of judges was chaired by A. C. Grayling and comprised Jonathan Bate, Sarah Churchwell, Daniel Glaser, Alastair Niven and Erica Wagner.

Nominees

Longlist

A longlist of thirteen titles was announced on 23 July 2014.
AuthorTitleGenreCountryPublisher
Joshua FerrisTo Rise Again at a Decent HourNovelUnited StatesViking Press
Richard FlanaganThe Narrow Road to the Deep NorthHistorical novelAustraliaChatto & Windus
Karen Joy FowlerWe Are All Completely Beside OurselvesNovelUnited StatesSerpent's Tale
Siri HustvedtThe Blazing WorldNovelUnited StatesSceptre Press
Howard JacobsonJNovelUnited KingdomJonathan Cape
Paul KingsnorthThe WakeHistorical novelUnited KingdomUnbound
David MitchellThe Bone ClocksNovelUnited KingdomSceptre Press
Neel MukherjeeThe Lives of OthersNovelUnited KingdomChatto and Windus
David NichollsUsNovelUnited KingdomHodder and Stoughton
Joseph O'NeillThe DogNovelIrelandFourth Estate
Richard PowersOrfeoNovelUnited StatesAtlantic Books
Ali SmithHow to Be BothHistorical novelUnited KingdomHamish Hamilton
Niall WilliamsHistory of the RainNovelIrelandBloomsbury

Shortlist

The shortlist of six novels was announced on 9 September 2014. It was composed of:
AuthorTitle
Joshua FerrisTo Rise Again at a Decent Hour
Richard FlanaganThe Narrow Road to the Deep North
Karen Joy FowlerWe Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Howard JacobsonJ
Neel MukherjeeThe Lives of Others
Ali SmithHow to Be Both

Winner

On 14 October, chair judge A. C. Grayling announced that Australian author Richard Flanagan had won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his book The Narrow Road to the Deep North. The judges spent three hours deliberating before announcing the winner. Grayling described the historical novel as a "remarkable love story as well as a story about human suffering and comradeship".