The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka last night, Monday October 17, was named winner of the Booker Prize 2022. The author was presented with his trophy by Her Majesty the Queen Consort in a new-look ceremony held at the Roundhouse, featuring a keynote speech by singer-songwriter Dua Lipa and hosted by comedian Sophie Duker.

The announcement, made by Chair of Judges, Neil MacGregor, was broadcast live to a global audience as part of a 45-minute Front Row special on BBC Radio 4 (airing at the later time of 9.15pm), presented by Samira Ahmed, and with TV coverage on the BBC News Channel and BBC World News. 

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, published by the independent press Sort of Books, explores life after death in a noir investigation set amid the murderous mayhem of a Sri Lanka beset by civil war. In Colombo, 1990, war photographer Maali Almeida is dead, and has no idea who has killed him. He has seven moons to try and contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to a hidden cache of photos that will rock Sri Lanka. It has been described by the Booker Prize judges as

"whodunnit and a race against time, full of ghosts, gags and a deep humanity."

It is Karunatilaka’s much-anticipated second novel; his debut, Chinaman (2011), won the Commonwealth Prize, the DSL and the Gratiaen Prize, and was selected for the BBC and The Reading Agency's Big Jubilee Read last year.

Karunatilaka, who was born in Galle, Sri Lanka in 1975 and grew up in Colombo, said in an interview for The Booker Prizes’ website that "Sri Lankans specialise in gallows humour and make jokes in the face of crises […] it’s our coping mechanism."

Chair of Judges, Neil MacGregor describes the book as "an afterlife noir that dissolves the boundaries not just of different genres, but of life and death, body and spirit, east and west’. In it, readers will discover ‘the tenderness and beauty, the love and loyalty, and the pursuit of an ideal that justify every human life."

Shehan Karunatilaka is the second Sri Lankan-born author to win the Booker Prize following Michael Ondaatje in 1992.

In an interview for The Booker Prizes’ website he says he first started thinking about this  book in 2009 after the end of the Sri Lankan civil war, "when there was a raging debate over how many civilians died and whose fault it was" and decided to write "a ghost story where the dead could offer their perspective."

Karunatilaka received £50,000 presented to him by last year’s winner Damon Galgut, a designer-bound edition of his book, and the £2,500 given to each shortlisted author. As the winner, he can expect instant international recognition and a dramatic increase in global sales. He is also the recipient of a newly designed trophy. The Booker Prize has worked with Factum Foundation to reinstate the original 1969 Booker Prize trophy in memory of its creator, the beloved children’s author and illustrator Jan Pieńkowski, who died in February this year.

If you'd like to remind youself of the whole 2022 Shortlist, check out our Feature on it here.

Main Feature Image.

Shehan Karunatilaka, winner of the 2022 Booker Prize with Judges L-R Chair Neil MacGregor (Chair), Shahidha Bari, Alain Mabanckou, M John Harrison and Helen Castor. Credit: Booker Prize Foundation.

The Trophy Image.

Credit: Factum Foundation.

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