Entertainment

International Booker Prize nominees to each receive a week’s worth of promotion

The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced on August 26.
The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced on August 26. The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced on August 26.

The nominees for the International Booker Prize are each set to receive a week’s worth of promotion from the organisers of the literary award.

The publicity will begin during the week when bookshops can reopen in England as rules around non-essential shops are relaxed.

The six books will be celebrated from June 15 in videos that will be shared on The Booker Prize’s online channels.

Virgin TV British Academy Television Awards 2018 – London
Virgin TV British Academy Television Awards 2018 – London Toby Jones will be part of the promotions (Isabel Infantes/PA)

The promotions will feature readings from actors including Toby Jones and Elizabeth McGovern.

Ted Hodgkinson, chair of the judges, said: “With bookshops up and down the country reopening – a vital part of the UK’s cultural bounce back – what better moment to celebrate our wonderful shortlist afresh?

“These are books deserving of an extended time in the spotlight, which reveal greater depths with each rereading.

“As my fellow judges and I return to them ahead of our final meeting in August, now is the perfect moment to read along with us, and place an order with your local bookshop.”

Organisers also announced that the winner of the £50,000 prize will be revealed in a digital ceremony on August 26.

The winner was previously scheduled to be unveiled on May 19, however the date was pushed back because of disruption to the books market.

Novels nominated for the prize include Shokoofeh Azar’s The Enlightenment Of The Greengage Tree, Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor and Yoko Ogawa’s The Memory Police.