<div align="justify">US author George Saunders became only the second American writer to win Britain's renowned Man Booker Prize, which was awarded for his first full-length novel "Lincoln in the Bardo".<br /><br />Judges for the prestigious English-language literary award praised as "utterly original" the book that chronicles the death of Abraham Lincoln's 11-year-old son Willie using the accounts of hundreds of narrators.<br /><br />"The form and style of this utterly original novel reveals a witty, intelligent, and deeply moving narrative," said Lola Young, chair of the judging panel, in announcing the prize at a ceremony in London.<br /><br />Saunders, 58, described the award as a "great honour, which I hope to live up to with the rest of my work, for the rest of my life."<br /><br />In a brief, politically-tinged acceptance speech, he made several thinly-veiled references to the controversial policies of US President Donald Trump.<br /><br />"We live in a strange time," he told the audience. "In the US now we're hearing a lot about the need to protect culture. Well, this tonight is culture."<br /><br />This year's Man Booker Prize shortlist pitted three US and three British writers against one another.<br /><br />The award, launched in 1969, was only open to writers from Commonwealth states until it began permitting authors from other English-speaking countries in 2014.<br /><br />Last year Paul Beatty became the first American to win the award for his novel "The Sellout".<br /><br />Saunders was the British bookmakers' favourite ahead of the announcement yesterday.<br /><br />In a lengthy and varied writing career, he has penned award-winning short story collections, essays, illustrated fables and a bestselling children's book, as well as many pieces of journalism.<br /><br />In 2006, he was awarded both a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship, while in 2009 he received an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.</div>
<div align="justify">US author George Saunders became only the second American writer to win Britain's renowned Man Booker Prize, which was awarded for his first full-length novel "Lincoln in the Bardo".<br /><br />Judges for the prestigious English-language literary award praised as "utterly original" the book that chronicles the death of Abraham Lincoln's 11-year-old son Willie using the accounts of hundreds of narrators.<br /><br />"The form and style of this utterly original novel reveals a witty, intelligent, and deeply moving narrative," said Lola Young, chair of the judging panel, in announcing the prize at a ceremony in London.<br /><br />Saunders, 58, described the award as a "great honour, which I hope to live up to with the rest of my work, for the rest of my life."<br /><br />In a brief, politically-tinged acceptance speech, he made several thinly-veiled references to the controversial policies of US President Donald Trump.<br /><br />"We live in a strange time," he told the audience. "In the US now we're hearing a lot about the need to protect culture. Well, this tonight is culture."<br /><br />This year's Man Booker Prize shortlist pitted three US and three British writers against one another.<br /><br />The award, launched in 1969, was only open to writers from Commonwealth states until it began permitting authors from other English-speaking countries in 2014.<br /><br />Last year Paul Beatty became the first American to win the award for his novel "The Sellout".<br /><br />Saunders was the British bookmakers' favourite ahead of the announcement yesterday.<br /><br />In a lengthy and varied writing career, he has penned award-winning short story collections, essays, illustrated fables and a bestselling children's book, as well as many pieces of journalism.<br /><br />In 2006, he was awarded both a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Fellowship, while in 2009 he received an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.</div>