Latest news with #Bookerprize
Irish Examiner
30-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Sarah Jessica Parker in possible conflict of interest over Booker longlisted author
An apparent conflict of interest has emerged over the Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker's judging of this year's Booker prize. A production company run by the actor is reportedly in the process of developing a book written by Claire Adam, whose second novel, Love Forms, appears on this year's longlist, announced on Tuesday. Adam's debut novel, Golden Child, was published in the US in 2019 by SJP for Hogarth, the Penguin imprint for which Parker served as editorial director. It is being developed as a film by Parker's company Pretty Matches Productions and MA Productions. 'It is not uncommon for judges to have a connection to authors whose work has been submitted, so all judges have to declare any conflicts of interest at the outset,' said Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation. Booker Prize 2025 judges Chris Power, Sarah Jessica Parker, Roddy Doyle, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ and Kiley Reid. 'As Sarah Jessica Parker published Claire Adam's first novel, Golden Child, under her US imprint SJP for Hogarth, she declared the potential conflict to ensure transparency and only gave her view on the book after the other judges had shared theirs. No book can go through if it is supported by one judge alone, and Love Forms has earned its place on the Booker prize 2025 longlist through the active support of other judges on the panel.' In an interview with the Irish Times published in June, Adam said that the film option 'was bought by a small production company in LA (MA Productions), and we're all so thrilled that SJP's Pretty Matches Productions is on board as well. Film stuff moves slowly, there are a zillion obstacles, and her supporting the project is fantastic.' Pretty Matches Productions, founded in 2005, is also behind the Sex and the City sequel And Just Like That … and the HBO series Divorce, which Parker executive produced and starred in. In an interview with the Times in June, Adam said that Parker 'reads loads and so it was really fun to hang out with her. She's so lovely and sincere. She read the book cover to cover and got up at 5am to travel to meet me.' Golden Child won the Desmond Elliott prize. The Booker Prize 2025 longlist In June 2023, Parker launched SJP Lit, in partnership with the independent publisher Zando, which has published titles including These Days by Lucy Caldwell and The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant. Parker also shares book recommendations on her Instagram account. Parker was announced as a judge of this year's Booker prize in December, with Wood saying at the time that she had 'enjoyed sharing book recommendations with Sarah Jessica, who has passionately supported contemporary fiction for many years'. The 2025 judging panel is chaired by Roddy Doyle, and Parker's co-judges are Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, Kiley Reid and Chris Power. Adam was named as one of 13 longlisted authors, which include the former winner Kiran Desai, Tash Aw and David Szalay. The shortlist will be revealed on 23 September, with the winner announced on 10 November. The Guardian
The Guardian
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Sarah Jessica Parker in possible conflict of interest over Booker longlisted author
An apparent conflict of interest has emerged over the Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker's judging of this year's Booker prize. A production company run by the actor is reportedly in the process of developing a book written by Claire Adam, whose second novel, Love Forms, appears on this year's longlist, announced on Tuesday. Adam's debut novel, Golden Child, was published in the US in 2019 by SJP for Hogarth, the Penguin imprint for which Parker served as editorial director. It is being developed as a film by Parker's company Pretty Matches Productions and MA Productions. 'It is not uncommon for judges to have a connection to authors whose work has been submitted, so all judges have to declare any conflicts of interest at the outset,' said Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation. 'As Sarah Jessica Parker published Claire Adam's first novel, Golden Child, under her US imprint SJP for Hogarth, she declared the potential conflict to ensure transparency and only gave her view on the book after the other judges had shared theirs. No book can go through if it is supported by one judge alone, and Love Forms has earned its place on the Booker prize 2025 longlist through the active support of other judges on the panel.' In an interview with the the Irish Times published in June, Adam said that the film option 'was bought by a small production company in LA (MA Productions), and we're all so thrilled that SJP's Pretty Matches Productions is on board as well. Film stuff moves slowly, there are a zillion obstacles, and her supporting the project is fantastic.' Pretty Matches Productions, founded in 2005, is also behind the Sex and the City sequel And Just Like That … and the HBO series Divorce, which Parker executive produced and starred in. In an interview with the Times in June, Adam said that Parker 'reads loads and so it was really fun to hang out with her. She's so lovely and sincere. She read the book cover to cover and got up at 5am to travel to meet me.' Golden Child is published in the UK by Faber, and in 2019 won the Desmond Elliott prize. In June 2023, Parker launched SJP Lit, in partnership with the independent publisher Zando, which has published titles including These Days by Lucy Caldwell and The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant. Parker also shares book recommendations on her Instagram account. Parker was announced as a judge of this year's Booker prize in December, with Wood saying at the time that she had 'enjoyed sharing book recommendations with Sarah Jessica, who has passionately supported contemporary fiction for many years'. The 2025 judging panel is chaired by Roddy Doyle, and Parker's co-judges are Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, Kiley Reid and Chris Power. Adam was named as one of 13 longlisted authors, which include the former winner Kiran Desai, Tash Aw and David Szalay. The shortlist will be revealed on 23 September, with the winner announced on 10 November.
The Guardian
29-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Sarah Jessica Parker in possible conflict of interest over Booker longlisted author
An apparent conflict of interest has emerged over the Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker's judging of this year's Booker prize. A production company run by the actor is reportedly in the process of developing a book written by Claire Adam, whose second novel, Love Forms, appears on this year's longlist, announced on Tuesday. Adam's debut novel, Golden Child, was published in the US in 2019 by SJP for Hogarth, the Penguin imprint for which Parker served as editorial director. It is being developed as a film by Parker's company Pretty Matches Productions and MA Productions. 'It is not uncommon for judges to have a connection to authors whose work has been submitted, so all judges have to declare any conflicts of interest at the outset,' said Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation. 'As Sarah Jessica Parker published Claire Adam's first novel, Golden Child, under her US imprint SJP for Hogarth, she declared the potential conflict to ensure transparency and only gave her view on the book after the other judges had shared theirs. No book can go through if it is supported by one judge alone, and Love Forms has earned its place on the Booker prize 2025 longlist through the active support of other judges on the panel.' In an interview with the the Irish Times published in June, Adam said that the film option 'was bought by a small production company in LA (MA Productions), and we're all so thrilled that SJP's Pretty Matches Productions is on board as well. Film stuff moves slowly, there are a zillion obstacles, and her supporting the project is fantastic.' Pretty Matches Productions, founded in 2005, is also behind the Sex and the City sequel And Just Like That … and the HBO series Divorce, which Parker executive produced and starred in. In an interview with the Times in June, Adam said that Parker 'reads loads and so it was really fun to hang out with her. She's so lovely and sincere. She read the book cover to cover and got up at 5am to travel to meet me.' Golden Child is published in the UK by Faber, and in 2019 won the Desmond Elliott prize. In June 2023, Parker launched SJP Lit, in partnership with the independent publisher Zando, which has published titles including These Days by Lucy Caldwell and The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant. Parker also shares book recommendations on her Instagram account. Parker was announced as a judge of this year's Booker prize in December, with Wood saying at the time that she had 'enjoyed sharing book recommendations with Sarah Jessica, who has passionately supported contemporary fiction for many years'. The 2025 judging panel is chaired by Roddy Doyle, and Parker's co-judges are Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, Kiley Reid and Chris Power. Adam was named as one of 13 longlisted authors, which include the former winner Kiran Desai, Tash Aw and David Szalay. The shortlist will be revealed on 23 September, with the winner announced on 10 November.
Hindustan Times
24-05-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
Book Box: Heart Lamp wins the Booker - Now what?
Dear Reader, A few days ago, I received a text message from my student Anisa. 'It's great that Heart Lamp has won a big literary prize. But now I have a problem. It's one more book everybody is talking about, one more book I feel compelled to read. Every month there seems to be a new literary prize in the news - the Booker prize, the International Booker, the Pulitzer, the Woman's prize, the Nobel Prize. Then there's the JCB prize, the Crossword prize - the list of prizes is as long as Hanuman's tail! Honestly, I am confused. There is all this talk of how we shouldn't just be swayed by prizes. And then when a book wins a prize, everyone lines up to read it. A few years ago, I picked up a book that had won this same prize. It was so slow, and hard to understand. Nothing happened - maybe it was too 'arty' for me. I stopped after 40 pages but I felt like a loser giving up, I felt there was something wrong with me that I didn't 'get' the book that a distinguished jury had given the prize to. And then there are so many prizewinning books that are emotionally triggering, like Shuggie Bain or Prophet's Song - reading them feels depressing. What is it about these prizewinning books, and why do they feel like a pressure for me? Is it wrong of me to want to enjoy my reading? And is it weird that I feel burdened by having to read these prize winning books ? And do you think I should read Heart Lamp ? Please help. Your (confused) student Anisa Dear Anisa, I get your dilemma. The list of literary prizes is long. What's interesting though is that each prize has its own personality - the Pulitzer for instance is purely American, the Nobel Prize is given for an author's body of work and not for a single book. The International Booker prize is special because it picks literature in translation. Also Read | Book Box | Reading without rules It's different - and not just because it has been won by Indian books twice already - Tomb of Sand (2022) and Heart Lamp (2025). Last year the prize went to a German novella, the year before to a Bulgarian novel. This year's win means that Heart Lamp, written by Banu Mushtaq and translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi, will now be in the international spotlight. This means these slice-of-life stories, with the real life struggles of Muslim women in Karnataka will now find their way to bookstores around the world - the Strand in New York, Foyles and Waterstones in London, the large chains and small independent bookstores all over the world. This also means that India will be seen in a more nuanced way, in terms of quietly courageous women and not just in terms of a caricatured version of a rich woman exploiting her poor driver, and sending him to jail for her own rash driving, as happens in the story of the The White Tiger, the 2008 Booker prizewinner. So here's my take - You don't have to read every prizewinner—prizes are just one more way of curating books, of bringing certain titles to your notice, titles you may not have come across otherwise. So read the description, and a review or two, and only if the prizewinning book speaks to you, give it a try. Maybe intersperse this book with lighter fun reads - because reading is above all a pleasure and we want it to stay that way. Heart Lamp offers a chance to see the world through a new lens—but only if you're ready for it. If you do pick it up, here's three things to consider 1. Maybe begin with reading just one story. You could start with Stones for Shaista Mahal. Or dip into the centre with Fire Rain, with the story of the maulvi and the discarded wife. Or with the title story. No life is too small to be worthy of notice, no story is too small to tell, say these selected short stories. 2. Read Heart Lamp to see how powerful fiction can be in giving voice to the powerless and how a story can bring small moments of quiet courage into the spotlight. 3. Be part of a global conversation with readers all over the world - we may be different but here's how we live and love. In a world that increasingly tries to divide us, here is where we can live inside each other's minds, if only for a few pages. (Sonya Dutta Choudhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and the founder of Sonya's Book Box, a bespoke book service. Each week, she brings you specially curated books to give you an immersive understanding of people and places. If you have any reading recommendations or reading dilemmas, write to her at sonyasbookbox@ The views expressed are personal)
Times
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Got a book idea? Write first three pages and you could win £75,000
An aspiring novelist is set to win £75,000 — for writing as few as 900 words. A new book prize has been launched for those 'overlooked by the publishing industry', with applicants needing to submit just the first three pages of a planned novel. The winner will then be supported for a year to develop their three pages into a full-blown novel. However, even if that full-length work reaches the peak of the English language literary fiction world and wins the Booker prize, it would only secure the author £50,000. The Next Big Story competition has been launched by The Novelry, a creative writing school which has recruited a judging panel including Yann Martel, the former Booker Prize winner. Louise Dean, an author and
