American short story writer Lydia Davis won the fifth Man Booker International Prize for fiction on Wednesday for a body of work that includes some of the briefest tales ever published. Davis, a professor of creative writing at the University of Albany, is best known for work that Observer critic William Skidelsky once said ?redefines the meaning of brevity?.
This year?s list of nominees included 80-year-old Indian UR Ananthamurthy, who was born in Melige village in Shimoga district of Karnataka. He has published five novels, one play, eight short-story collections, three collections of poetry and eight more of essays, and his works have been translated into several Indian and European languages.
The Man Booker International Prize recognises one writer for his or her achievement in fiction. Worth ?60,000, the prize is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language. The winner is chosen solely at the discretion of the judging panel and there are no submissions from publishers.
It is significantly different from the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction. In seeking out literary excellence, the judges consider a writer?s body of work rather than a single novel.