Another year, another Booker Prize shortlist featuring only one Brit, as well as a couple of notable omissions: The Colony by Women's Prize-shortlisted author Audrey Magree, and Booth by former Booker shortlistee Karen Joy Fowler.
Instead, this year's shortlist includes authors of five nationalities, from four continents — two from the United States, one from Zimbabwe, one from Ireland, and one from Sri Lanka.
Only one author has made the shortlist before (NoViolet Bulawayo), even as this year's list celebrates authors with hefty back catalogues — Americans Percival Everett and Elizabeth Strout, and 87-year-old British author Alan Garner (the oldest nominee in the prize's history).
