Lost Booker Prize to Be Awarded

In 1971, the Booker Prize changed its rules so that the prize would be given to a book published that year, rather than, as it had previously been, to a book published the year before. That means that no prize was ever awarded for a novel in 1970—an oversight that the Booker Prize is now seeking to remedy. A panel of judges will shortlist six books from 1970 in March, meaning that Iris Murdoch’s A Fairly Honourable Defeat, Muriel Spark’s The Driver’s Seat, and Joe Orton’s Head to Toe could finally win. Then, in May, a winner will be announced, based on voting on the Man Booker Prize’s Web site.