A new literary prize announced this week is aiming to take on the juggernaut of fiction prizes, the Man Booker Prize, by recognizing writers read by those with finer tastes.

The Literature Prize will be the first major English-language book prize to cross all borders. There will be no restriction on the genre of books.

The award will be handed out annually for any work of fiction written in the English language and published in the United Kingdom.

The Literature Prize has been described as an award that will recognize writers who appeal to those with finer tastes and who enjoy the challenge of reading great works.

The prize has already raised suggestions that it smacks of literary snobbery or elitism and that its launch is intended as a swipe at the winners selected for the Man Booker Prize, which has been described as the ultimate accolade for many writers.

The organizers of the new award criticized the Booker for putting readability above artistic merit in choosing a winner.

In their mission statement, the organizers told the Telegraph newspaper: “The prize will offer readers a selection of novels that are unsurpassed in their quality and ambition.” More.

See: The Star