Four debutants among finalists for Britains’s Booker Prize

LONDON: Britain’s Booker Prize, whose winner is set to be unveiled on Thursday, this year pits four debut novelists against a pair of established writers for one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards.

Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga and Ethiopian-American Maaza Mengiste are vying with the quartet of debutants for the title of best work of English-language fiction published in the UK and Ireland.

Ahead of the announcement, British bookmakers were backing Scotland’s Douglas Stuart, author of 1980s Glasgow-set novel "Shuggie Bain", to claim the storied prize. The Booker has launched careers and courted controversy since its creation in 1969. Judges last year tore up the rule book by awarding it jointly to Canadian author Margaret Atwood and Anglo-Nigerian author Bernardine Evaristo.