The shortlist as just announced is exactly the same as the one I hypothesised below, earlier today.
Nobody's gonna believe I didn't know. But as one of the judges who bailed a couple of years ago under interesting circumstances, I'm one of the last people likely to have been in the loop.
The three big names were predictable enough. There's a huge buzz around Carrie Tiffany because of her recent nomination for the Orange Prize, and Brenda Walker's work has been consistently excellent (and consistently undervalued) since she first began publishing fiction.
But I'm still a bit startled.
Tea leaves - that's the answer.
ReplyDeleteI thought the shortlist wasn't due till tomorrow - must have got my dates mixed up. It looks like a pretty good list.
Tea leaves, I Ching, tarot maybe ... what's the one where you examine the entrails of a sacrificed animal? Harusp-something?
ReplyDeleteWhy be startled? Isn't being pleased that your pre-selections were right a good thing to be happy about.
ReplyDeleteGood work. Now, let's consult the tea leaves for this year's Booker winner, and we'll all go down to Ladbrokes to put a tenner on. We'll be rich, I tells ye..
ReplyDeleteStefano