Yorkshire writers in line for Booker Prize – 40 years late

SOME of Yorkshire's most famous contemporary writing talent has been nominated for a special Booker Prize to recognise works published 40 years ago.

In 1971, two years after the prestigious Booker Prize began, it ceased to be awarded retrospectively and became, as it is today, a prize for the best novel in the year of publication.

The date on which the award was given was also moved from April to November, creating a gap when a wealth of fiction published in 1970 could not be eligible for consideration.

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Prize organisers decided to redress the balance 40 years on, the celebratory award to recognise works published in 1970 which "fell through the net".

Scarborough-born Susan Hill has been nominated for her book I'm The King Of The Castle, while Reginald Hill, who worked as a lecturer in Doncaster, has been included for his A Clubbable Woman work. Other authors who have made the 23-strong longlist include Lord Melvyn Bragg, Ruth Rendell, Joe Orton, Iris Murdoch and HE Bates.

The Lost Man Booker Prize is the brainchild of Peter Straus, honorary archivist to the Booker Prize Foundation.

He said: "I am delighted that, even in a Darwinian way, this year so many extraordinary novels can now be covered by the Man Booker Prize."

A panel of three judges – all of whom were born in or around 1970 – has been selected.

The overall winner will be announced in May.