Round-Up: Man Booker Prize 2016, the Passing of Edward Albee, and the World Book Capital 2018
From the Man Booker Prize 2016 Shortlist to the World Book Capital 2018, here are last week’s biggest literary headlines:
- The shortlist for the 2016 Man Booker Prize for Fiction was announced. The nominated books include The Sellout by Paul Beatty, His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet, Hot Milk by Deborah Levy, and Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh, All That Man Is by David Szalay, and Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien. The Man Booker had previously only been open to writers from Britain, Ireland, the Commonwealth, and Zimbabwe, but it was opened in 2014 to all authors published in Britain and first written in English. The 2015 winner was A Brief History of Seven Killings by Jamaican author Marlon James.
- On September 16, playwright Edward Albee passed away at the age of 88. The three-time Pulitzer Prize winner was widely considered America’s greatest living playwright. His most well-known work, “Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf?”, opened on Broadway in 1962. The Tony-winning play was later made into a film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Mr. Albee’s other works include “The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?”, “Tiny Alice,” and “Three Tall Women.”
- UNESCO named Athens as the World Book Capital 2018. This nomination entails a commitment to encouraging books and reading and introducing activities for one year, which starts on World Book and Copyright Day on April 23. An advisory committee of representatives of the IPA, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), and UNESCO collaborate to recommend the selection. 2018 places a special focus on making books and reading accessible to everyone, including migrants and refugees.
