Northern Ireland writer Anna Burns wins Man Booker Prize for novel 'Milkman'

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Northern Irish author Anna Burns won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with "Milkman", a vibrant, violent story about men, women, conflict, and power set during Northern Ireland's years of Catholic-Protestant violence.

Northern Irish author Anna Burns won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with "Milkman", a vibrant, violent story about men, women, conflict, and power set during Northern Ireland's years of Catholic-Protestant violence.

Burns is the first writer from Northern Ireland to win the 50,000-pound (66,000 US dollars) prize, which is open to English-language authors from around the world. She received her trophy from Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during a black-tie ceremony at London's medieval Guildhall.

"Milkman" is narrated by a young woman dealing with an older man who uses family ties, social pressure and political loyalties as weapons of sexual coercion and harassment. It is set in the 1970s but was published amid the global eruption of sexual misconduct allegations that sparked the "Me Too" movement.

"I think this novel will help people to think about "Me Too", and I like novels that help people think about current movements and challenges," said philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah, who chaired the judging panel. "But we think it'll last — it's not just about something that's going on at this moment."

"I think it's a very powerful novel about the damage and danger of rumor," he added.

Burns beat five other novelists, including the bookies' favorites: American writer Richard Powers' tree-centric eco-epic "The Overstory" and Canadian novelist Esi Edugyan's "Washington Black", the story of a slave who escapes from a sugar plantation in a hot-air balloon.

The other finalists were US novelist Rachel Kushner's "The Mars Room", set in a women's prison; Robin Robertson's "The Long Take", a verse novel about a traumatized D-Day veteran; and 27-year-old British author Daisy Johnson's Greek tragedy-inspired family saga "Everything Under."

"If we had been drifting towards thinking that one of the men on the list was the best one, I wouldn't have said ‘No guys, we're going to get in trouble for this any more than if we'd been drifting towards an American," he said. "We picked the one ... most deserving of the prize."

The Man Booker has a reputation for transforming writers' careers, and the one who will emerge from the field to beat other finalists is always subject to intense speculation and lively betting. Previous winners include Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Arundhati Roy, and Hilary Mantel.

It's likely to bring a big boost to Burns, who is 56-years-old and has two previously published novels but is hardly a household name.

"Milkman" appears on the printed page as a continuous torrent with few paragraph marks, which has led some to label it experimental and challenging. But Appiah said the vivid, distinctive Belfast language in Burns' book was "really worth savoring."

"If you're having difficulty, try reading it out loud," he said. "The pleasure of it really has to do with the way that it sounds."

"It's challenging in the way a walk up (mount) Snowdon is challenging. It's definitely worth it because the view is terrific when you get to the top."

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