George Saunders wins 2017 Man Booker Prize for fiction

Leading American short story writer George Saunders has been declared as the winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize for fiction for his unique and extraordinary debut novel Lincoln in the Bardo Saunders win was announced by Lola Baroness Young the chair of the judging committee at a dinner at Londons Guildhall late on Tuesday nightCamilla Duchess of Cornwall presents US author George Saunders with the award for the 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction at the Guildhall in central London PicAFPHe was presented with a trophy from the Duchess of Cornwall and a 50000 pounds cheque by Luke Ellis Chief Executive of Man Group Saunders also received a designer bound edition of his book and a further pound2500 for being shortlisted Saunders thanked his wife Paula referring to her as his precious friend and artistic hero for supporting him to achieve the wonderful honourIf you havent noticed we live in a strange time So the question at the heart of the matter is pretty simple do we respond to fear with exclusion and negative projection and violence Or do we take that ancient great leap of faith and do our best to respond with love And with faith in the idea that what seems other is actually not other at all but just us on a different day Saunders said upon receiving the prizeIn the US we are hearing a lot about the need to protect culture Well this tonight is culture it is international culture it is compassionate culture it is activist culture It is a room full of believers in the word in beauty and ambiguity and in trying to see the other persons point of view even when that is hard The 58yearold New York resident born in Texas is the second American author to win the prize in its 49year history He was in contention for the prize with two British one BritishPakistani and two American writersThe form and style of this utterly original novel reveals a witty intelligent and deeply moving narrative This tale of the haunting and haunted souls in the afterlife of Abraham Lincolns young son paradoxically creates a vivid and lively evocation of the characters that populate this other world Lincoln in the Bardo is both rooted in and plays with history and explores the meaning and experience of empathy commented Young 2017 Chair of judges Youngs fellow judges this year were writer and critic Lila Azam Zanganeh novelist and poet Sarah Hall the artist and author Tom Phillips and the travel writer and novelist Colin ThubronLincoln in the Bardo focuses on a single night in the life of Abraham Lincoln an actual moment in 1862 when the body of his 11yearold son was laid to rest in a Washington cemetery Strangely and brilliantly Saunders activates this graveyard with the spirits of its dead The novel is published by Bloomsbury making it the third consecutive year the prize has been won by an independent publisher following Oneworld Publications success in 2015 with Marlon James and 2016 with Paul BeattyBloomsbury has won the prize thrice before with Howard Jacobson 2010 Margaret Atwood 2000 and Michael Ondaatje 1992 The judges considered 144 submissions for this years prize The books losing out on the prize were 4321 by Paul Auster US Elmet by Fiona Mozley UK Exit West by Mohsin Hamid UKPakistan History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund US and Autumn by Ali Smith UK