Mohsin Hamid makes it to shortlist of Man Booker Prize

Pakistan's leading English-language author Mohsin Hamid once again made the country proud after his novel, Exit West, made the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize on Wednesday.

Exit West is Hamid's fourth novel and this is the second time he's made it to The Man Booker shortlist. Earlier, his acclaimed novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, was also shortlisted for the prize in 2007 and even got made into a feature film by Indian director Mira Nair.

This year’s judges, chaired by Baroness Lola Young, announced their shortlist of six titles on Wednesday morning, according to the Guardian.

“With six unique and intrepid books that collectively push against the borders of convention, this year’s shortlist both acknowledges established authors and introduces new voices to the literary stage,” said Young. 

“Playful, sincere, unsettling, fierce: here is a group of novels grown from tradition but also radical and contemporary. The emotional, cultural, political and intellectual range of these books is remarkable, and the ways in which they challenge our thinking is a testament to the power of literature.”

Mohsin Hamid, Kamila Shamsie longlisted for Man Booker Prize

The two British-Pakistani authors are among 13 authors contending for the prestigious award

Young is joined on the judging panel for this year’s prize by the literary critic Lila Azam Zanganeh, the novelist Sarah Hall, artist Tom Phillips and travel writer Colin Thubron, stated the Guardian report. 

The winner of the 50,000-pound ($65,000) prize will be announced on October 17.

In July this year when the prize's 'longlist' was announced, British-Pakistani author Kamila Shamsie and Indian author Arundhati Roy also made the list but could not make the next step. 

Hamid is the author of four novels, Moth Smoke, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, and Exit West, and a book of essays, Discontent and Its Civilizations.

Born in Lahore, Hamid spent half his life there and the remaining in New York, California and London. 

The competition: 

Hamid will be competing against the following novelists: 

4321 by Paul Auster (Faber & Faber)

History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

Elmet by Fiona Mozley (JM Originals, John Murray)

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (Bloomsbury)

Autumn by Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton)