Novelist Elizabeth Strout, who lives part time in Brunswick, is one of six authors named a finalist for the 2022 Booker Prize for fiction.
Strout made the short list for her eighth novel, “Oh William!”
Brunswick author Elizabeth Strout Photo by Leonardo Cendamo
Her ninth, “Lucy By the Sea,” will be released this month. Both feature the same main character, Lucy Barton.
The Booker Prize, considered one of the top awards for fiction, is open to works by writers of any nationality, written in English and published in the U.K. or Ireland. It was first awarded in 1969. Past winners include Margaret Atwood, George Saunders and Ian McEwan.
The other 2022 finalists are: “Glory” by NoViolet Bulawayo; “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan; “The Trees” by Percival Everett; “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida” by Shehan Karunatilaka; and “Treacle Walker” by Alan Garner.
Each of the shortlisted authors received an award of 2,500 British pounds and a specially bound edition of their book. The winner, which will be announced Oct. 17, receives 50,000 pounds.
Strout, who divides her time between Maine and New York, was among 13 authors who made the first cut for the Booker Prize, announced in July. She previously was longlisted for “My Name is Lucy Barton” in 2016. Her 2008 novel “Olive Kitteridge” won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Her husband, James Tierney, is a former Maine attorney general.
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