Chigozie Obioma, Salman Rushdie, four others fight for $60,325 Booker Prize

The contenders for the 2019 Booker Prize for Fiction have reduced from 13 to six.

For more than 50 years, the Booker Prize has recognised outstanding fiction in the English-speaking world and is considered one of the top literary awards.

Each year, a panel of judges selects one novel as the year’s best fiction work written in English and published in the UK or Ireland.

This year’s longlist of 13 books was announced in July.

“If you only read one book this year, make a leap. Read all 13 of these,” said founder and director of Hay Festival Peter Florence, who also serves as the chair of this year’s jury. “There are Nobel candidates and debutants on this list.”

The shortlist was announced Tuesday, leaving six authors and their books in the running for the 2019 Booker Prize of £50,000 or roughly $60,325.

The winner for 2019 award will be announced on October 14.

Here’s the list of the authors who made the 2019 Booker Prize’s short-list:

*Margaret Atwood (Canada), “The Testaments” (Vintage, Chatto & Windus)

*Lucy Ellmann (USA/UK), “Ducks, Newburyport” (Galley Beggar Press)

*Bernardine Evaristo (UK), “Girl, Woman, Other” (Hamish Hamilton)

*Chigozie Obioma (Nigeria), “An Orchestra of Minorities” (Little Brown)

*Salman Rushdie (UK/India), “Quichotte” (Jonathan Cape)

*Elif Shafak (UK/Turkey), “10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World” (Viking).