U.S. writer Paul Beatty wins 2016 Man Booker prize for Fiction

The Sellout by Paul Beatty on Tuesday was named winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, making him the first American to win the prize in its 48 year history.

Beatty's The Sellout, a satirical look at race relations in the United States, garnered the 50,000-pound (61,000 U.S. dollars) Man Booker Prize, which was previously open only to writers from Britain, Ireland and the Commonwealth.

The Sellout is published by small independent publisher Oneworld, which had their first win in 2015 with Marlon James' A Brief History of Seven Killings.

"The Sellout" tells the story of an African-American, Bonbon, who tries to put his Californian town back on the map, from which it has been officially removed, by re-introducing slavery and segregation in the local high school.

Paul Beatty is the author of three novels -- Slumberland, Tuff and The White Boy Shuffle -- and two books of poetry: Big Bank Take Little Bank and Joker, Joker, Deuce. He is the editor of Hokum: An Anthology of African-American Humor.

The 2016 shortlist of Man Booker prize included two British, two Americans, one Canadian and one British-Canadian writer. Apart from the 50,000 pound prize -- each of the six shortlisted authors wins 2,500 pounds (3,050 dollars).

This is the third year that the prize has been open to writers of any nationality, writing originally in English and published in the UK.

First awarded in 1969, the Man Booker Prize is recognized as the leading award for "high quality literary fiction written in English." Endit