Booker Prize unveils 2022 shortlist, including oldest finalist ever

The majority of the Booker shortlist is inspired by real events, from the Sri Lankan civil war and the fall of Robert Mugabe to Ireland’s Magdalene laundries scandal and the murder of Emmett Till in the United States. Photo: Handout

Britain's Booker Prize for fiction recently unveiled its final contenders for this year's award, featuring the oldest author and the shortest book ever to make the prestigious six-strong literary shortlist.

Octogenarian Englishman Alan Garner, who will turn 88 when the winner is announced on Oct 17, was shortlisted for Treacle Walker, which is the shortest finalist novel by word count.