S Poddar
Actress Sarah Jessica Parker was announced as a judge for the prestigious Booker Prize 2025. A global icon best known for her role in Sex and the City, she has been selected to join one of the most distinguished panels of judges in the literary industry, who will decide who wins this most prestigious literary award honoring the best fiction written in the English language and first published in the UK or Ireland.
The Booker Prize, with its cash award of £50,000, will be judged by an eclectic and accomplished group. Among them will be authors Ayobami Adebayo and Kiley Reid, who have both made a mark on the literary world, broadcaster and literary critic Chris Power, and the Irish novelist Roddy Doyle, who himself won the Booker Prize in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. This is a first in the history books, as the panel will boast three Booker-winning authors, altering the traditional makeup of judges for this award.
As a regular in the literary arena, no one knows Sarah Jessica Parker better than when she reads. But apart from her acting accolades — four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards — her literary pursuits are also impressive. The actress has maintained a strong presence in the publishing world through her literary imprint, SJP Lit, which she has run for several years in collaboration with publisher Hogarth. In addition, Parker has been very supportive of the literary community in different ways. She has been an honorary chair for the American Library Association’s online platform, Central Book Club. She is also a board member of United for Libraries, a charitable organization that advocates for libraries and library services across the United States.
It seems Parker loves books more than what her job may describe. She is actually an enthusiastic reader who has always found a place in her heart for contemporary fiction-a passion acknowledged by Gaby Wood, Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation. “For months now,” said Wood, “Parker has been enthusiastically backing modern literature and indeed giving me book recommendations.”. Wood added that Parker’s commitment to contemporary fiction and her vast reading experience make her an exciting addition to the judging panel.
Roddy Doyle will also lead the 2025 panel. Doyle, who gained fame with his Booker-winning novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, expressed his eagerness for the role in a statement. With over four decades of experience in the literary world, Doyle is looking forward to immersing himself in the best novels of the year. “For more than 40 years, I’ve been writing novels, or editing novels, or thinking about the next novel,” Doyle said. “For longer still – since my mother taught me how to read – I’ve filled hours of every day with novels, reading them, re-reading them, just gazing at them. To have licence to do little else but read the year’s best novels, to find the familiar in the unfamiliar, to examine the remarkable, unique things that great writers can do with the shared language, English – I can’t wait.”
He further said that though he has never been part of a book club before, he is excited to be part of a group that will surely be full of lively discussions about literature. Given such a diverse and knowledgeable panel, it is no wonder that expectations for the 2025 Booker Prize are high.
The longlist for the 2025 Booker Prize will be announced in July, followed by a shortlist of six books in September. This year’s winner, British author Samantha Harvey, won the prize for her novel Orbital, a story about astronauts observing Earth from space. This marked a significant milestone as she became the first woman to win the award since 2019.
As the literary world waits with bated breath for next year’s prize, Sarah Jessica Parker’s involvement has added a new layer of excitement and intrigue to the proceedings. An actress who has long demonstrated her love for literature, she is sure to bring a fresh perspective to the selection process. With such a distinguished panel of judges and a promising list of contenders, the 2025 Booker Prize is bound to be one of the most riveting in recent history.
