Booker Prize semifinalists include 4 Irish writers, 4 debut novelists

By BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Author Sebastian Barry is one of four Irish writers to make the long list of semifinalists for this year’s Booker Prize. Barry has received four previous nominations for the prestigious fiction award and twice been shortlisted for it. He was nominated Tuesday for his novel “Old God’s Time” about a retired police detective who gets dragged back into a cold case investigation of a murdered priest suspected of sexual abuse. The writers of 12 other books, including four debut novelists, were chosen from 163 books submitted by publishers. The winner of the 50,000 pound ($64,000) prize will be announced on Nov. 26 after the list is pared down to six finalists next month.