DBC Pierre Wins 2003 Man Booker Prize for Fiction

On Tuesday, October 14, Australian-born author DBC Pierre was named the winner of the 2003 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for his first novel, Vernon God Little, published in the U.K. by Faber & Faber and in the U.S. by Canongate.

Pierre's satirical Vernon God Little tells the story of a 15-year-old boy accused of a high-school massacre. Professor John Carey, chair of the judges, described Pierre's tome as "a coruscating black comedy reflecting our alarm but also our fascination with modern America." For winning the Man Booker Prize, Pierre receives £50,000.

The administrator of the Man Booker Prize, Martyn Goff, said the judges' decision was "unanimous, with four of the five judges very strong supporters and one not unhappy," as reported by the Financial Times. Goff told the Times that the judges had arrived at the decision in less than an hour, the second quickest result in the 34-year history of the prize.

DBC Pierre is the pen name of Peter Finlay, an internationally published cartoonist who was brought up in Mexico and now lives in Ireland.

The Booker Prize for Fiction is awarded to the best full-length novel written in English by a citizen of the British Commonwealth or Ireland. The winner was announced at an awards dinner in the Great Court of the British Museum.