LONDON (AP) — The Latest on the Man Booker Prize for fiction (all times local):
9:50 p.m.
Anna Burns has won the prestigious Man Booker prize for fiction with "Milkman," a vibrant, violent story about men, women, power and conflict set during Northern Ireland's years of Catholic-Protestant violence.
Burns is the first writer from Northern Ireland to win the 50,000 pound ($66,000) prize, and open to English-language authors from around the world. She received her trophy from Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during a black-tie ceremony Tuesday at London's medieval Guildhall.
"Milkman" is narrated by a young woman dealing with an older man who uses family ties, social pressure and political loyalties as a weapon of sexual harassment. Judging panel chair Kwame Anthony Appiah said those are timely themes in the "Me Too" era.
Burns beat two other British writers, two Americans and a Canadian.
___
11:00 a.m.
The Man Booker Prize is set to be awarded to one of six finalists, including a gritty story set in a women's prison, a novel in verse about a divided America and an environmental epic that has been likened to "Moby Dick" for trees.
U.S. novelist Rachel Kushner's "The Mars Room," U.K. poet Robin Robertson's "The Long Take" and American writer Richard Powers' "The Overstory" are competing for the 50,000 pound ($66,000) prize with a reputation for transforming writers' careers.
The other contenders are "Washington Black," the saga of an escaped slave by Canada's Esi Edugyan; Northern Ireland writer Anna Burns' Troubles-set "Milkman"; and "Everything Under" by 27-year-old British writer Daisy Johnson, who would be the youngest-ever Booker winner.
The winner will be announced Tuesday at London's medieval Guildhall.
