James Kelman vies with Roth and Pullman for literary glory

ONE of Scotland's most celebrated authors will today take his place on the shortlist for one of the literary world's most coveted international prizes.

James Kelman has made the final list for the Man Booker International Prize for the second time in three years.

The critically acclaimed novelist is one of 13 authors nominated for the 60,000 prize, which seeks to recognise a writer's entire body of work and their contribution to literature.

Mr Kelman, who won the Booker Prize in 1994 for his novel, How Late It Was, How Late, was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize in 2009 alongside Booker Prize-winning Peter Carey and Nobel laureate VS Naipaul.

However, it was won that year by Canadian short-story writer Alice Munro.

While the 64-year-old Glaswegian was the UK's only representative on the shortlist two years ago, he is one of three British authors nominated this year.

The others are Philip Pullman, best known for the trilogy, His Dark Materials, and veteran writer John le Carr, who once asked that his books should not be submitted in order to give less established authors the opportunity to win.

• Update: John le Carr withdrew from the prize this morning, saying he doesn't compete for literary awards.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Philip Roth, arguably the most lauded American writer of his era, also makes the finalists' list.

Born in Glasgow in June 1946, Mr Kelman left school at the age of 15. At 21, he decided he wanted to write stories, with his first collection published in the 1970s.

He became involved in Philip Hobsbaum's creative writing group along with Tom Leonard, Alasdair Gray and Liz Lochhead, and then went on to win a host of literary awards for his work.

They include the Scotland on Sunday/Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award in 1998 for his book, The Good Times. As well as his Booker win in 1994, he was nominated in 1989 for his work, A Disaffection. In addition to his novels, he has written short stories and created work for television, radio, and the stage.

The Man Booker International Prize, which was established in 2005, is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English, or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language.

The prize seeks to recognise an author for their "continued creativity, development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage". This year's shortlist consists of authors from eight countries, five of whom are published in translation.There are four women on the list.

For the first time, Chinese writers feature in the list, with Wang Anyi and Su Tong in the running.

Rick Gekoski, chair of the judges, said: "The 2011 list of finalists honours 13 great writers from around the world. It is, we think, diverse, fresh and thought-provoking, and serves to remind us anew of the importance of fiction in defining both ourselves and the world in which we live.

"Each of these writers is a delight, and any of them would make a worthy winner."

Alongside Mr Gekoski, a writer, academic, and rare-book dealer, the judging panel includes Carmen Callil, a publisher, writer, and critic, and award-winning novelist Justin Cartwright.

The winner is chosen solely at the discretion of the judges, with no submissions from publishers.

Chinua Achebe won the award in 2007 and Ismail Kadar took home the inaugural prize in 2005.

This year's winner will be announced at the Sydney Writers' Festival on 18 May and celebrated at an awards ceremony in London on 28 June.

The Man Booker International Prize is unique in the world of literature in that it can be won by an author of any nationality, providing that his or her work is widely available in English.

However it can only be won once by any individual writer once.

FACT AND FRICTION

WHEN James Kelman won the Booker Prize in 1994 for How Late It Was, How Late, it sent shockwaves through the literary community. The stream-of-consciousness novel, written in Glaswegian dialect from the perspective of a foul-mouthed former convict, was regarded by some as a breakthrough, but others begged to differ.

The decision to award the Scot the prize caused friction among judges. One of them, Rabbi Julia Neuberger, threatened to resign, deeming the book little more than "crap". She thought it a "disgrace" that Mr Kelman was chosen ahead of other esteemed literary figures such as Doris Lessing, Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie.

While winning made Mr Kelman a household name, it was not entirely to his benefit. His work was barred from some libraries and bookshops and his later novels failed to sell as well.

He later revealed that the victory - specifically the negative publicity and attacks on his work which followed - made publishers more reluctant to handle his writing. "I don't think it has proved to be that good for me," he said. "I don't think I ever really recovered."