Learn all about The Booker Prize and what goes on behind the scenes of a literary award.
We all keep track of the longlist, the shortlist and the winner announcement for The Booker Prize, but we don’t actually know that much about what goes on behind the scenes. How long does the judging process take? How long does it take to read all of the submissions? How does life change for the winning author?
Join us at 7pm on 30th November to hear from an outstanding panel about the impact of the award, and learn more about what goes on behind the scenes when judging a literary prize.
Join in with the discussion on Twitter with the hashtag #SYPBehindTheScenes. Please note this session is pre-recorded.
Book your ticket on eventbrite here.
Tickets are free for SYP Members, £5 for non-members.
Panelists include:
Gaby Wood
Gaby Wood is the Director of the Booker Prize Foundation. She was also a judge for the Booker Prize 2011. Prior to her appointment she was Head of Books at the Telegraph, and for 15 years she was an editor and staff feature writer at the Observer, reporting for the last seven of those years from New York. She grew up bilingually in English and Spanish and holds a degree in French. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Shahidha Bari
Shahidha Bari was a judge for the Booker Prize 2022. She is a British broadcaster and academic, who presents Inside Culture on BBC2 and Free Thinking on BBC Radio 3. Having studied English at Cambridge and taught literature at the University of London for over 15 years, she is now a Professor at the University of the Arts London. Her book Keats: The Life of Sensations was published by Routledge in 2011 and her second, Dressed: The Secret Life of Clothes, by Jonathan Cape in 2019.
Chigozie Obiona
Chigozie Obioma was a judge for the Booker Prize 2021. His two novels, The Fishermen (2015) and An Orchestra of Minorities (2019) were both shortlisted for the Booker Prize making him one of only three novelists to be shortlisted for all of their work. He was born in Akure, Nigeria, is an associate professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and divides his time between the US and Nigeria.
Chairing the panel:
Polly Smith is Events Executive at The Bookseller and Events Co-officer at SYP UK. She has worked on publishing events for three years and in all formats (in person, online and hybrid). Polly has previously hosted SYP Behind The Scenes: The Women’s Prize.