Coetzee Leads Heavy-Hitting Booker Prize Shortlist

JM Coetzee may become the first author to win the Man Booker Prize three times after his fictionalized memoir Summertime made the prestigious literary award's shortlist today. The South African writer's new book takes the form of interviews by a biographer writing about "the late author John Coetzee." But he faces tough competition from Hilary Mantel, whose Wolf Hall, a hulking novel set at the court of Henry VIII, is the bookies' favorite.

As the Guardian reports, this year's shortlist favored veterans over newcomers, with two previous winners in the running for the $83,000 prize. The full list of nominees:

• AS Byatt, The Children's Book
• JM Coetzee, Summertime
• Adam Foulds, The Quickening Maze
• Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
• Simon Mawer, The Glass Room
• Sarah Waters, The Little Stranger

(More Booker Prize stories.)