Man Booker Prize 2018: Longlist sees graphic novel for first time in award history

For the first time ever, a graphic novel has inched its way into the Man Booker Prize longlist.

Sabrina, by US author Nick Drnaso, is about a vanished young woman and the 24-hour aftermath.

Sabrina uses purposely simplistic illustrations to present a story of violence and "fake news" conspiracy theories.

The graphic novel was described as ‘oblique, subtle (and) minimal,’ with judges saying the "changing shape of fiction" meant it was about time that a graphic novel made it onto the longlist.

This year’s longlist of 13 books was selected by a panel of five judges: by the philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah (Chair); crime writer Val McDermid; cultural critic Leo Robson; feminist writer and critic Jacqueline Rose; and artist and graphic novelist Leanne Shapton.

The 13 titles on the longlist consists of six writers from the UK, three from the US, two Irish and two Canadian writers. It marks the first time that novels published in Ireland are eligible for the £50,000 prize.