The Gathering, by the Irish writer Anne Enright, won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for a writer who is “a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland.” Enright’s win was a long shot; although she’s published plenty, she isn’t one of the usual suspects, like Ian McEwen or J.M. Coetzee, who tend to pop up on the Booker shortlist regularly. The Booker Prize can make an author. Enright is now on a world tour that one suspects her publishers didn’t plan until she won. more ›

It's time for the LAIST prize roundup in the book world. John Banville, in a surprise turn, has won the Booker Prize for his novel, The Sea, beating out favorite Julian Barnes, Kazuo Ishiguro, Zadie Smith, Sebastian Barry, and Ali Smith. Apparently the voting was as close as it's ever been. There's a great 3-part interview with Banville at the litblog The Elegant Variation. more ›

There's always more gossip than content going around the Internet about author Zadie Smith, whether it's Vogue mis-identifying someone else as her in a photo (the insulting inaccuracy was ridiculed via Maud and the Old Hag) or the Rake raking up her rap preferences. Smith has something that stands above the gossip, though - one of the best writing talents in generations, and now another book to prove it. more ›

It's confession time here in Booksville, LAIST. Zadie Smith, author of the novels White Teeth, The Autograph Man and her most recent, On Beauty, will be appearing not once, but twice, this Sunday in Los Angeles: at Dutton's Beverly Hills at 2 pm, and at 826 LA at 6. We have known this for almost a month (we posted about her Booker Prize nomination here) and tried to write a post about it for that length of time. And we have, thus far, failed. The book is too good, and the multiplicity of themes too overwhelming. more ›

Zadie Smith, author of , is on a roll this September, and it's bringing her back to SoCal. Not only is she going to be in Los Angeles for An Evening with Zadie Smith at 826 LA on October 2nd (details coming to you as soon as we get them), not only is her third book, On Beauty, coming out September 13th, she's on the Booker Prize shortlist. She's unlikely to win - Julian Barnes is leading the field with the bookies - but the recognition is well deserved. more ›