'Lost' Man Booker Prize From 1970 to Be Awarded

In 1970, the Man Booker Prize went to a book published in 1969, but the rules changed in 1971 and the coveted prize was awarded to a book published that year—meaning no 1970 novel scored a Booker. Organizers plan to right the perceived wrong by awarding the Lost Man Booker Prize to one of a number of "remarkable" titles from the forgotten year, the BBC reports.

Iris Murdoch, Melvyn Bragg, and Joe Orton are among the longlisted authors. A shortlist will be selected in March by three judges who, oddly enough, were all too young to read in 1970; the public can then vote for the winner, to be announced in May, online. “Our longlist demonstrates that 1970 was a remarkable year for fiction written in English,” says the prize’s literary director. “Recognition for these novels and the eventual winner is long overdue.” For the complete longlist, click here.
(More Booker Prize stories.)