Arts diary: Inside the Booker Prize judging room

Monday’s Booker Prize announcement was no doubt a disappointment to Scottish author Douglas Stuart who will have been hoping to become only the fifth ever writer to win the accolade twice.

Shortlisted for his book John Of John, Stuart was beaten to the award by first-time nominee and the oldest ever winner of the Booker, M John Harrison, for a book that has been described as “baffling” by one bemused critic. Our own Scotsman critic, however, the inimitable Stuart Kelly, proclaimed Harrison to be “our edgiest genius” when he reviewed the winning tome.

At a press conference on Monday to reveal the Booker Prize winner, chair of the judges Mary Beard gave an intriguing insight into the panel deliberations, stating that the decision to award the prize to The End Of Everything was unanimous.

“But if you were a fly on the wall in the judging procedure, you would know there was never a moment when we all put down a little piece of paper with our first choice to win,” she said, when questioned further on the issue. “That would be a very, very, foolish way of reaching consensus.”

The panel - which also included writer Raymond Antrobus, musician, writer and broadcaster Jarvis Cocker, journalist and critic Rebecca Liu; and Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist, poet and essayist Patricia Lockwood - spent an entire day last weekend debating the winner, having read each book three times. The winning book came out ahead, Ms Beard said, in terms of its “extraordinary, expert writing” and its “huge ambition”.

Harrison himself will sympathise with the plight of those forced to deliberate. He is one of at least three previous winners who have previously served as a judge for the prize, having sat on the panel in 2022. AS Byatt also served as a judge in 1974, winning the prize in 1990 with Possession, while Hilary Mantel, who served as a judge in 1990, later scooped a double win with Wolf Hall in 2009 and again in 2012 with Bring Up the Bodies.

Harrison, 81, has had a writing career spanning 60 years and has been a literary critic as well as a prolific author. However, Ms Beard was also adamant that the prize was not for his overall body of work.

“We thought this was a book that earned it. I think it should be very clear that it isn’t a lifetime achievement award,” she said.

From Amélie to Violette

Glasgow Film Theatre is to screen Violette - the latest work of Amélie director Jean-Pierre Jeunet - 25 years after the launch of the hit film and weeks before the film comes out in its native France. Leïla Bekhti plays Violette Toussaint, who keeps a cemetery in a small Burgundy town.

Adapted from Valérie Perrin’s bestseller. Jeunet has claimed the work has the most beautiful shot of his career. Screening as part of the French Film Festival, the film will be shown at Glasgow Film Theatre on 20 November.

Stand up exclusive

Finally, congrats to Maureen Hascoet, creator of Scottish streaming service Scotflix, which has secured its first exclusive she in the form of a stand up comedy special by Still Game star Paul Riley. Too Smart to be Nice premieres on Friday.