The Man Booker Prize, the most prestigious literary award in the UK, is a testament to the highest achievements in literature. Being nominated for the Booker carries a lot of weight, and it is no coincidence that it is compared to the Oscars in the world of literature. The purpose of the prize is not only to determine the best book of the year, but also to provide additional publicity for the author and to give him or her a certain status. Among the winners of the Man Booker Prize are Nobel Prize-winning writers: William Golding, Nadine Gordimer, Vidyadhar Surajprasad Naipaul and John Kutze. 

The ancestor of the prize is the Booker Company, which was founded in Liverpool about two hundred years ago and specialised in the trade of colonial goods. In the 1950s and 1960s, the then chairman of the company and a close friend of Ian Fleming helped the writer to dispose of his literary heritage. It was then that the idea of acquiring copyrights arose, which was the beginning of the book publishing business. Later, the company signed similar deals with Agatha Christie, Robert Bolt and Harold Pinter. 

The book business proved to be quite profitable, and in 1969 it was decided to create the Man Booker Prize. The prize is awarded to authors residing in the Commonwealth countries and Ireland for their English-language works. In 2005, the International Man Booker Prize was launched, and since 2014, authors from all over the world have been able to participate in the prize, provided their books are translated into English.

The prize is organised by an advisory committee of publishers, representatives of writers and libraries, literary agents, the Man Booker Prize Foundation and representatives of Booker.

The first stage of the competition involves the shortlisting of more than 100 books. The jury, consisting of five prominent literary critics and writers, shortlists 20-25 titles. In September, only six finalists are selected from this list, and the winner of the Man Booker Prize is announced at a special ceremony in November.

In 2023, the shortlist includes the following books: "A Study in Obedience by Sarah Bernstein; If I Outlive You by Jonathan Escoffery; This Other Paradise by Paul Harding; Song of the Prophet by Paul Lynch; West Lane by Chetna Maru; and The Bee Sting by Paul Murray.

According to the organisers, all the books on the list deal with the most painful topics of our time: global warming, immigration, the economic crisis, persecution of minorities, political extremism and the struggle for freedom. The protagonists of these works are searching for their purpose in the world, mourning a lost love, or simply seeking peace and tranquility. Some of the works are about the present, some about the past, and some predict a terrible future.

Let us remind you that this year's winner of the Man Booker International Prize is The Time Shelter, a novel by Bulgarian writer Georgi Gospodinov and translator Angela Rodel. Under the terms of the competition, the £50,000 prize will be shared equally by the author and the translator.