Three Irish authors longlisted for Man Booker Prize 2018

THREE Irish authors have been nominated for the prestigious Man Booker Prize.

Among the 13-person list are Sally Rooney’s novel Normal People, Donal Ryan’s From A Low and Quiet Sea and Anna Burn’s Milkman.

The highest prize in literature is open to writers of any nationality writing in English and published in the UK and Ireland.

This is the first year that novels published in Ireland are eligible, and this year’s longlist was chosen from a record 171 submissions.

Sally Rooney became a recognised name in the literary world this year as her critically acclaimed first novel Conversations with Friends sat atop the shelves of bookshops everywhere.

However, it is her second novel, Normal People, that has earned her a spot on this year’s longlist.

The 27-year-old is also editor of the Irish literary magazine The Stinging Fly.

Tipperary native Donal Ryan makes the list for the second time, after he was nominated in 2013 for The Spinning Heart.

This time around, he receives the nod for his most recent novel From a Low and Quiet Sea.

Belfast woman Anna Burns makes the longlist with her third novel Milkman, a story about a young woman who is forced into a relationship with an older man during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Only two Irish authors have ever won the prize.

Roddy Doyle won in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha and Anne Enright in 2007 for The Gathering.

The full list is as follows:

Belinda Bauer (UK) – Snap

Anna Burns (Ireland/UK) – Milkman

Nick Drnaso (USA) -Sabrina

Esi Edugyan (Canada) – Washington Black

Guy Gunaratne (UK) – In Our Mad And Furious City

Daisy Johnson (UK) – Everything Under

Rachel Kushner (USA) – The Mars Room

Sophie Mackintosh (UK) – The Water Cure

Michael Ondaatje (Canada) – Warlight