The Booker Prize goes to Sri Lanka. This year, the writer Shehan Karunatilaka has won the award, one of the most prestigious in the English language, for his novel The Seven Moons Of Maali Almeida.
It was Camila, the queen consort of the United Kingdom, who presented the award to the author, during a ceremony at The Roundabout in London, the first in person and with the public since before the coronavirus pandemic.
The jury praised the "ambition and scope" of the 47-year-old Karunatilaka's work, describing it as a "journey through life and death" told with "hilarious audacity".
This is the second novel by the author, who published his first work in 2011. It tells the story of a photographer who wakes up after being murdered and receives permission for seven moons to contact his loved ones and guide them to a series of photographs that document atrocities during the civil war in Sri Lanka.
"He would have read the names of all the journalists, politicians, activists and innocent civilians killed" in the country during his life, but "we would have been here all night," the writer declared from the stage.
The book was published in English by the independent publisher Sort of Books, whose managers the author thanked for their commitment to a work that others rejected as "rare."
"Despite having a dark history and a troubled present, Sri Lanka is not a dour or depressing place. Sri Lankans are specialized in black humor, laughter is clearly a defense mechanism" explained the author of a novel described by the media as "supernatural satire".
"We think this is a book that will last," said the president of the jury, the British art historian Neil MacGregor, who explained that the decision to award Karunatilaka with the award endowed with 50,000 pounds (57,600 euros) was taken unanimously.
