Sarah Jessica Parker joins Booker Prize 2025 jury

Actor launched literary imprint SJP Lit in 2023

LONDON:

Hollywood actor Sarah Jessica Parker, known for her lead role in Sex and the City, will be a judge on the 2025 panel for the prestigious Booker Prize, the organisers announced Tuesday.

As per AFP, the jury will be chaired by Irish writer Roddy Doyle, who himself won the literary award for fiction in 1993 with his novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

Parker, who played Carrie Bradshaw in the TV series Sex and the City, will be joined by Nigerian novelist Ayobami Adebayo, British writer and literary critic Chris Power, and American author Kiley Reid.

The 59-year-old actor, who has one Emmy and four Golden Globes to her name, has been quietly making a name for herself in the publishing industry in recent years.

She was editorial director of a subsidiary of publishing house Penguin, before launching her own literary imprint, SJP Lit, in 2023, in partnership with an independent publisher.

The chance to be part of the jury is "very daunting" but also "the thrill of a life", Parker told The New York Times. "I think of judges as academics, learned, experienced in ways I'm just not. I didn't pursue higher education. I don't have any degrees," the star added.

Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, Gaby Wood, said Parker "has passionately supported contemporary fiction for many years".

Authors and publishers can already send their submissions for the 2025 Bookers. A longlist of 12 or 13 novels in July will be whittled down to the finalists in September, with the winner announced in November 2025. afp