Friday September 14, 2012
Odds on Mantel
By MIKE COLLETT-WHITE
HILARY Mantel, who won the coveted Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2009 with historical novel Wolf Hall, is favourite to repeat the feat after her sequel Bring Up The Bodies was shortlisted again.
The overall winner will receive a cheque for £50,000 (RM248,000) plus a spike in sales that usually accompanies a major literary award. Last year’s winner, The Sense Of An Ending by Julian Barnes, has sold more than 300,000 print copies in Britain alone.
Ladbrokes bookmakers made Mantel the early favourite for the 2012 Man Booker Prize with odds of 9/4, followed by Will Self (Umbrella) on 11/4.
“All of the momentum is with Mantel and punters are confident in her bid for the first ever repeat win,” said Ladbrokes spokeswoman Jessica Bridge. “She cost us dearly in 2009 with Wolf Hall and this year looks set to be no different.”
The prize was launched in 1969 to promote works of fiction written by citizens of Britain, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. – Reuters
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