2020 Booker Prize shortlist announced

The six titles shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize were announced on September 15.

First awarded in 1969, the Booker Prize is regarded as the leading prize for high-quality literary fiction written in English.

Two African authors have been recognised, with novels by Zimbabwean Tsitsi Dangarembga and Ethiopian-American Maaza Mengiste, This Mournable Body and The Shadow King, respectively, making the shortlist.

The six titles vying for the esteemed award are:

• The New Wilderness by Diane Cook (Oneworld Publications)
• This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Faber & Faber)
• Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi (Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House)
• The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste (Canongate Books)
• Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Picador, Pan Macmillan)
• Real Life by Brandon Taylor (Originals, Daunt Books Publishing)   

This year's winner will be announced at a ceremony at London's Guildhall on November 17.