The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Karunatilaka was hailed by the judges as an afterlife noir with 'deep humanity.'
Digital Desk: Shehan Karunatilaka, a Sri Lankan author, has won the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction for his second book, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, about a war photographer murdered during the country's civil war.
Karunatilaka was presented with a trophy by Queen Consort Camilla on Monday night in London. It was the first in-person celebration for the English-language literature prize since 2019. The author, 47, will also receive a 50,000 pound ($56,700) prize.
Seven Moons is set in 1990s Sri Lanka and follows gay war photojournalist and gambler Maali Almeida after he wakes up dead and decides to find out who killed him.
Time is of the essence for Maali, who has "seven moons" to reach out to loved ones and direct them to concealed images illustrating the island's sectarian turmoil.
"My aim with Seven Moons is that it be read in a Sri Lanka that understands that these ideals of corruption, race-baiting, and cronyism have not succeeded and will never work," he said.
"I hope it's in print in ten years, but if it is, I hope it's written in [a] Sri Lanka that learns from its stories, and that Seven Moons will be in the fantasy department of the bookstore next to the dragons and unicorns, and not mistaken for realism or political satire," says the author.
Karunatilaka is the second Sri Lankan to win the award, following Michael Ondaatje's win in 1992 for The English Patient, which was later adapted into a film.
The judging panel's chair, Neil MacGregor, described Seven Moons as "an afterlife noir that melts the borders not only of different genres, but of life and death, body and spirit, east and west."
According to the judges, it was a "whodunnit and a race against time, filled with ghosts, humour, and a deep humanism."
The ceremony, the first in-person Booker event since 2019, was attended by all but one of the six shortlisted authors.
Zimbabwean NoViolet Bulawayo, American novelists Percival Everett and Elizabeth Strout, and Irish author Claire Keegan were also on the shortlist.
The Booker Prize was established in 1969 and is the United Kingdom's most prestigious literary award for novels written in English. Last year's winner was South African Damon Galgut, with past recipients including Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, and Hilary Mantel.
The ceremony on Monday included a special tribute to Mantel, who died last month at the age of 70.
With the first two novels in her Wolf Hall trilogy, she became the first British writer – and the first woman – to win the prize twice.
Leave A Comment