NI author Anna Burns nominated for Booker prize

Anna Burns has been nominated for her book ‘Milkman’ – a tale of gossip and hearsay, silence and deliberate deafness.

Chair of judges Kwame Anthony Appiah said: “The novel delineates brilliantly the power of gossip and social pressure in a tight-knit community, and shows how both rumour and political loyalties can be put in the service of a relentless campaign of individual sexual harassment.

“Burns draws on the experience of Northern Ireland during the Troubles to portray a world that allows individuals to abuse the power granted by a community to those who resist the state on their behalf.”

The Arts Council extended its congratulations to the writer. Chair Sheila Pratschke said: “This is a remarkably exciting time for Irish prose fiction and I am delighted to see Anna Burns on the Booker shortlist.

“The Arts Council works tirelessly to create the best conditions for writers to make their best work, and it is gratifying to see the strength of Irish literature in recognised by the Booker judges.”

Anna Burns was born in Belfast in 1962 and now lives in East Sussex. She is the author of two other novels – No Bones and Little Constructions.