Having scooped up every literary prize in town, is Hilary Mantel about to be crowned the international queen of intellectuals as well? Prospect magazine has just released the long list for its World Thinkers award, placing the novelist in the esteemed company of such philosophers as Michael Sandel and political scientist Francis Fukuyama.
The prize — which used to have the less grand global title of “public intellectuals” — will be awarded to a candidate who is “active in public life, distinguished in their field” and who has had an “influence on international debate” in the past 12 months.
Sixty-five names have been put forward by a panel that includes David Miliband, French philosopher Bernard Henri-Lévy and Pulitzer-prize-winner Anne Applebaum, and the public can now decide who the greatest world thinker is by voting online. If Mantel manages to continue her seemingly unstoppable winning streak, will it be her insights on Tudor courts she’s being rewarded for or her provocative observations about certain living royals?
