Booker Prize 2022

The Queen Consort, a long-term supporter of the prize, attended the event alongside Dua Lipa.

The author explained: “Despite having a grim history and a troubled present, Sri Lanka is not a dour or depressing place. The other shortlisted books were The Trees by Percival Everett, Oh William! They set up the company in 1999 to help their friend, Chris Stewart, launch his debut book, Driving Over Lemons. [Lipa hosts her own podcast](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/celebrity-blog-dead-can-dua-lipa-revive/), At Your Service, in which she interviews famous people from the worlds of fashion, music, literature and activism. She added: “Touring commitments take me all over the globe and life is often hectic. And, at these times, it is books that soften me.”

The prestigious award was given to The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, which the judges hailed as "a searing, mordantly funny satire set amid the murderous ...

The 2022 Booker Prize was given to The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, written by Sri Lanka's Shehan Karunatilaka. The The annual award, which was given Monday evening in London, is for a work of fiction written in English and published in the U.K.

The 47-year-old was praised by judges for the "scope and the skill, the daring, the audacity and hilarity" of his novel.

In his acceptance speech on Monday, Karunatilaka said: "My hope for Seven Moons is that in the not too distant future... not be mistaken for realism or political satire." by US author Elizabeth Strout.

Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka has won this year's £50000 prize for a metaphysical thriller about the horrors of civil war. It's easy to see why the ...

Perhaps it’s nitpicking to extol the virtues of a “loser”, yet Shuggie Bain (Douglas Stuart) and The Promise (Damon Galgut) were standout winners in the past two years, and it is hard to share that conviction over The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. And, in the midst of chaotic, bewildering times, Karunatilaka’s novel offers the opportunity to understand what is transpiring in a troubled part of the world, with compelling things to say about the nature of conflict and the importance of an individual life. In any case, it’s best not to get too het up about who takes the ribbon in a literary winner’s enclosure. I admire Alan’s Garner’s body of work and hopefully the £2,500 condolence prize given to each shortlisted author will have been a nice bonus on his 88th birthday. Like desserts, choosing the winner of a literary prize is a matter of taste. [Terms of use,](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/user-policies-a6184151.html) [Cookie policy](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html) and [Privacy notice.](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-policy-a6184181.html) Another “loser” was NoViolet Bulawayo’s bold satire Glory, about the fall of an African dictator, told from the perspective of talking animals. And it really is more of a ghost story than a humorous satire. His Booker winner also has a touching tenderness amid the mayhem. The judges whittled down 169 submissions to an impressive, varied final six (although without the deserved After Sappho, by Selby Wynn Schwartz), with an equal split of women and men. [Booker Prize](/topic/booker-prize) 2022, began planning how to tell the brutal horrors of civil war in Sri Lanka through fiction more than a decade ago. I understand why the judges loved this metaphysical thriller – chair Neil MacGregor picked out the “hilarious audacity of its narrative techniques” – and Karunatilaka, who becomes the second Sri Lankan-born author to win the £50,000 Booker Prize following Michael Ondaatje in 1992, admitted honing constant edits to make the book “less impenetrable for readers unversed in Sri Lankan folklore or tragedy”.

The Sri Lankan author received the prize from the Queen Consort Camilla at the Roundhouse in London during Monday (17 October) night's awards ceremony for his ...

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is his second novel. [Terms of use,](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/user-policies-a6184151.html) [Cookie policy](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html) and [Privacy notice.](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-policy-a6184181.html) by Elizabeth Strout. Karunatilaka was born in Galle but grew up in Colombo. Michael Ondaatje won the prize for The English Patient in 1992. [Privacy policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en) and [Terms of service](https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en) apply.

The judges said Karunatilaka's book The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida was an afterlife noir that showed 'deep humanity'.

next to the dragons, the unicorns [and] will not be mistaken for realism or political satire,” he added. that in the not-so-distant future… It was the English language literary award’s first in-person ceremony since 2019.