Shit I can't keep straight, vol II: Literary prizes

So, Howard Jacobson just won the Man Booker for The Finkler Question. I could have sworn I just heard the Guardian talking about the Man Booker winner. Is time flying that fast? Probably. But there are also a crazy number of literary prizes out there. I mean, that's good. Books don't receive enough attention, not near as much as they should. But what is the difference between the Man Booker and the Whitbread? Between the Pulitzer and the National Book Award? Time to find out.

The Man Booker is awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in English, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland or Zimbabwe. The winner receives 50,000 pounds. The judges will compose a longlist of 12-13 books that they then whittle down to 6 for the shortlist. The judges are chosen by the Booker Prize Foundation Committee. Translations are not eligible. Why Zimbabwe? I'm glad you asked. I dunno. I tried to research the answer and I found a website that said the country of "Africa" was eligible. Ohrilly? It's a former British colony but shit, so are we.

The Costa Prize (formerly known as the Whitbread) is given to authors based in the UK or Ireland. They are considered a more populist prize than the Man Booker as they are given not only for literary merit, but also for books that convey the joy of reading. There are 5 categories (Best Novel, Best First Novel, Poetry, Biography, Children's Book.) The winners of each get 5000 pounds. There is then an overall winner that receives 25,000 pounds. It is sponsored by Costa Coffee (a subsidiary of Whitbread.) Also, I looked through a list of the last few years' winners and scarcely recognized any.

The Orange Prize is annually awarded to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English, and published in the United Kingdom in the preceding year. It was created in response to the all-male Booker shortlist in 1991. The winner receives 30,000 pounds. The judging committee is composed of five women. It is not without controversy due to its being all female. Even people like Germaine Greer and A.S. Byatt attacked it. A bunch of dudes also have said its sexist. I hate this rubbish sniping about writers genders. It reminds me of all the Franzenfreude nonsense going on right now in this country. Also, Jodi Picoult writes dross.

The Pulitzer is awarded to an American author, preferably to one dealing with American life. The winner gets $10,000. It is administrated by Columbia University. BTW, that's Benjamin Franklin on the medal and it's pronounced "pull", not "pyull." There are, of course, also many other Pulitzer prizes given besides literature. There are a number of categories within journalism and "letter" as well as one for music. Not sure I knew about the last one (well, no wonder. I took a look at the winner and I recognized maybe two names.)

The National Bookw Award is given to an American author and its mission is "to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America." It is administrated by the National Book Foundation. There are 4 categories: fiction, poetry, nonfiction and young people's (it explicitly says this instead of "children's.) So, like the Costa except no prize for first fiction. There are 20 finalists-five from each category-who each receive $1000. The winners receive $10,000. Apparently, at one time there were many more categories that recognized different genres.

The PEN/Faulkner is awarded by the foundation of the same name to the year's "best work of fiction" by a living American author. The winner gets $15,000 while the four runners-up each receive $1000. They claim they are the largest peer-juried award in the country. This part is kind of cool: the winner and runners-up are invited to come and read from their work in the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington.

The Prix Goncourt is a prize given is a prize for French literature for "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year." They also give out prizes for first fiction, poetry, biography and (hey! here's an idea) short story.

Well, there are probably bazillion others but that is enough. I do want to quickly mention the prize established by Barbara Kingsolver, the Bellwether Prize. It  is intended to support writers whose unpublished works support positive social change. She won the Orange Prize (you know, the sexist one) and used the award money to fund this award, according to an interview with BBC World Book Club.



And to prove how jive these awards can be, I looked up Don DeLillo and saw how many he has won. Just the list for White Noise is depressing.