Author Amos Oz short-listed for Booker Prize
Israeli author short-listed for the Man Booker International Prize alongside literary heavyweights Salman Rushdie and Philip Roth
Israeli novelist Amos Oz has been short-listed for this year's Booker Prize award.
The intriguing shortlist, announced at a press conference in Toronto on Thursday, also included Nigerian Chinua Achebe, Irishman John Banville and Britain's Ian McEwan to Australian Peter Carey, and Canada's Margaret Atwood.
The judges said "We offer a gift to readers all over the world, an opportunity to join a conversation on 15 writers, diverse in nationality, language, themes and techniques but united in their dedication to the power of the word."
In contrast to the annual Booker Prize which is awarded to one particular novel, the International Prize highlights a writer's complete works. The 60,000 pound ($119,000) prize is awarded every two years.
Last month, the World Union for Progressive Judaism awarded Oz the Maggid honorary title. It was the first time an author was awarded this title "in recognition of a prolific body of work that has dramatically contributed to the Israeli and Jewish narrative.”
