Canadian Author David Szalay Shortlisted for 2025 Booker Prize
David Szalay, a Canadian author, has been shortlisted for the prestigious 2025 Booker Prize. The £50,000 (approx. $92,000 Cdn) prize recognizes the best original novel written in the English language and published in the U.K. Szalay is nominated for his novel, Flesh.
Szalay's "Flesh" and its Narrative
Flesh follows the story of 15-year-old István, whose affair with a married woman sends his life into turmoil. As István matures, he experiences a period of recklessness and achieves his desires, only to face the threat of their complete undoing. The novel explores themes of love, longing, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. Szalay, born in Montreal in 1974, now resides in Vienna.
Szalay's Literary Accomplishments
This is not David Szalay's first encounter with the Booker Prize. His novel, All That Man Is, was also shortlisted in 2016 and won the Gordon Burn Prize the same year. Other notable works include Turbulence and London and the South-East, the latter of which received the Betty Trask Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Szalay's writing style is characterized by its sparse and impactful prose.
The 2025 Booker Prize Shortlist
Szalay is now the sole Canadian contender for the prize. Maria Reva, a B.C.-based author, was previously on the longlist for her debut novel, Endling, which is also shortlisted for the Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Reva has also been named as a judge for this year's CBC Short Story Prize.
The Booker Prize Jury
The 2025 Booker Prize jury is chaired by Irish novelist Roddy Doyle, winner of the 1993 Booker Prize for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. The panel includes Nigerian novelist Ayobami Adebayo, British broadcaster and literary critic Chris Power, American writer Kiley Reid, and American actor Sarah Jessica Parker.
"The six have, I think, two big things in common. Their authors are in total command of their own store of English, their own rhythm, their own expertise; they have each crafted a novel that no one else could have written. And all of the books, in six different and very fresh ways, find their stories in the examination of the individual trying to live with — to love, to seek attention from, to cope with, to understand, to keep at bay, to tolerate, to escape from — other people. In other words, they are all brilliantly written and they are all brilliantly human."
The Complete Shortlist
- Flashlight by Susan Choi
- The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
- Audition by Katie Kitamura
- The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits
- The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
- Flesh by David Szalay
Award Details and Past Canadian Winners
The shortlisted writers will each receive £2,500 (approx. $4,600 Cdn) and a specially bound copy of their book. The 2025 winner will be announced at an award ceremony on Monday, Nov. 10 at Old Billingsgate in London.
Since 2013, authors of any nationality have been eligible for the Booker Prize. Past Canadian winners include Margaret Atwood (shared 2019 prize with Bernardine Evaristo), Michael Ondaatje (1992), and Yann Martel (2002). Last year's winner was British author Samantha Harvey for her novel Orbital.