In an event on Wednesday, The Promise by Damon Galgut (Europa) was awarded the £50,000 Booker Prize. The South African author, who has been shortlisted twice before, said in his acceptance speech, “It has been a great year for African writing and I’d like to accept this on behalf of all the stories told and untold, the writers heard and unheard from the remarkable continent that I’m part of. Please keep listening to us. There’s a lot more to come.”
The US edition had registered sales of approximately 3,600 hardcovers through October 23 in outlets tracked by NPD Bookscan, so he should see a measurable lift here. Galgut is represented by Caroline Wood at Felicity Bryan Agency (and published by Chatto & Windus in the UK). Copies could be in short supply to begin with: Ingram showed no copies on hand right after the awards announcement, with just under 400 copies on order for two of their facilities. Europa Editions said an additional 5,000 copies “has been printed already and is delivering soon,” with potentially more to come.
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