Man Booker Prize judges announced

       Yes, they've announced that the Man Booker Prize 2013 judges revealed.
       As they explain:

The announcement of the judging panel is an important moment each year because the Man Booker Prize is only as good as its judges.

       I find it interesting that they claim:

Part of the reason the prize is heralded internationally is because the judges stand as a guarantee of literary weight and seriousness of intent. If the public, publishers and writers don't trust in the competence of the judges then they don't trust the prize. If they don't trust the prize then it becomes just another literary award.

       Hmmm ... personally, I'd trust the prize much more if I actually knew which books they considered each year -- since they only consider around 120 or so submitted (with a handful of called-in) titles every year, out of the many tens of thousands of eligible titles (in no small part because of the ridiculous limit of only allowing two titles per imprint to be officially submitted) but don't reveal what they actually are. Sure, the competence of the judges is of some interest and concern -- but surely what matters most is what is being judged. And that they continue to keep secret.
       Until they offer some proper transparency in this regard the Man Booker can't possibly be taken particularly seriously (though neither can most literary prizes, especially in the UK, where they tend to share the Man Booker attitude of keeping these most basic facts from the public). Why practically everyone in the media continue to do so remains entirely beyond me; certainly, the well-greased Man Booker PR machine continues roll smoothly along, entirely evading the issue.