M. John Harrison wins Booker Prize at 81, oldest recipient ever
British author M. John Harrison is 81. He won the Booker Prize for his post-apocalyptic novel The End of Everything.
The End of Everything is set on England's Channel coast in the near future. An unspecified disaster has shattered society.
Alien beings have come to Britain. The story follows a beachcomber.
He finds a puzzling, shapeshifting artefact on the shore. Harrison beat five other finalists including previous Booker winners Douglas Stuart and Marlon James.
Judge Mary Beard said the novel captures 'the politics of now seen through the lens of the future'. Science fiction rarely wins major literary prizes.
This honour is unusual. At 81, Harrison is now the oldest Booker Prize winner.
He beat Margaret Atwood's 2019 record. This is his 13th novel.
- 81
- Harrison's age
- STG50,000
- Prize amount
- 13th novel
- This is his
Why it mattersA Booker win for science fiction shows decades of Harrison's work to raise speculative fiction to literary standing.
AustraliaNo direct Australian effect yet, but the award may influence Australian publishers to invest more in speculative and science-fiction novels.
Corroborated byPerthNow
