Booker Prize Quotes

“History teaches us that the greatest authors are those who wrote silently without hope of praise or REWARD.
They wrote to defend principles and win people's hearts, and not to please a Prize committee or win a literary AWARD.”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“One of the disadvantages of literary awards is the fact that authors are writing to please a book award committee, rather than to spread the message of love, tolerance, peace, and serve humanity.”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“History teaches us that Literary Book Awards have always been the quickest and easiest way to achieve global fame. They have helped countless authors to shoot to stardom. But this fame usually fades away after their death, unlike William Shakespeare, Jane Austen or Charles Dickens who never won any awards, yet they continue to be read, quoted and remembered as the greatest writers of all time.”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“Literary award judges have the power to select a prize winner, granting them fame and potentially turning their book into a bestseller. However, determining the best book of the year remains a subjective endeavor. It is not surprising, then, that different panels consistently choose different winners from the same pool of submissions.”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“I noticed that in a corner, across from where they ate with such innocent relish, sitting forlorn and abandoned, was the ghost of their son. He had lost both of his arms, one side of his face was squashed, and both his eyes had burst. He had bluish wings. He was the saddest ghost in the house.”
― Ben Okri, The Famished Road

“Resolved not to waste further time on account of this childish affair, I contemplated departure via the french windows.”
― Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day

“To understand subjectivity in literary awards, think of these competitions as social media platforms and judging panels as their users. A book you submit to a literary award competition is like a post you share on social media—some praise its ideas, others reject them; some find it inspiring, others provoking; tragic to some, laughable to the rest.”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“Literary award competitions are like social media platforms, and judging panels are their users. Submitting a book to a literary award competition is like sharing a post on social media—some praise its ideas, others reject them; some find it inspiring, others provoking; tragic to some, laughable to the rest.”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“„- Poți auzi marea?
- Ăsta era citatul favorit din Shakespeare, a lui Keats.”
― Iris Murdoch, The Sea, the Sea

“AI can be a valuable tool for writers in maintaining consistency. For example, a writer working on a novel might accidentally mix US and UK English, using forms like “color” and “colour,” “toward” and “towards,” or different vocabulary such as “fall” instead of “autumn” or “elevator” instead of “lift.” Compound words might be hyphenated inconsistently, like “well-being” versus “wellbeing.” I can mention my own errors, such as writing “for ever” instead of “forever.” AI can automatically identify and correct these inconsistencies, helping to ensure a uniform style. It can also check formatting, including fonts, spacing, and paragraph layout, so that the document meets professional standards. AI can point out gaps or abrupt transitions in the text too. These are all tasks that a human editor would normally carry out, and AI is simply doing the same. There is no reason why AI should be exempt from performing the work that is expected of a human editor.”
― Mouloud Benzadi

“In the meantime, I had won the Booker Prize. That changed everything. Even though some communists said that it was all an imperialist plot, people were proud and happy that an Indian author had won a big international award. But to celebrate me wholeheartedly, The God of Small Things needed to be de- politicized. It began to be spoken of as a book about children, praised for its lyrical language and stripped of its politics. Stripped of its references to caste.
At the hearing in the High Court the judge said, ‘Every time
this case comes before me, I get chest pains.’ He kicked the can down the road. Each hearing was postponed for months and sometimes years. Over time my lawyer died, so did the judge. I can only hope that the chest pains induced by my book and the case against it were not the cause. More than ten years later, a new lawyer argued before a new judge and got the case dismissed.”
― Arundhati Roy, Mother Mary Comes to Me