Saunders was the second consecutive American writer to win the prize, after the rules were changed in 2014 to allow authors of any book written in English and published in the U.K. to compete. The judging panel, led by author and member of Britain's House of Lords Lola Young, praised the "deeply moving" book, saying it was "utterly original". Saunders was presented with his award by the Duchess of Cambridge, the wife of Britain's Prince William. Other previous winners have included this year's Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, Salman Rushdie, Iris Murdoch and Canadian writer Margaret Atwood. The award was previously open only to writers from Britain, Ireland, Zimbabwe or countries in the British Commonwealth.

Source: bd News24 October 18, 2017 01:07 UTC