 Banville beat authors including Zadie Smith and Kazuo Ishiguro |
Author John Banville's first novel since winning the Booker Prize will be a thriller written under a pseudonym. Banville, whose novel The Sea won the prestigious �50,000 prize last week, is writing 1950s thriller Quirke under the pen name Benjamin Black.
"His intention when he writes a book is to create a piece of art, and with this one his main intents is to entertain," his Picador publisher Andrew Kidd said.
Due out in autumn 2006, Quirke is intended as the first book in a series.
Backdrop of corruption
It will be set against a backdrop of corruption in the Catholic church.
"He doesn't want people reading Quirke and looking for the same things they do in a Banville novel," Mr Kidd said.
The Sea, which earned Irish writer Banville his first Booker win, is a tale about grief, love and childhood.
He beat authors including Zadie Smith, Ali Smith, Sebastian Barry and Kazuo Ishiguro to the prize.
Author Julian Barnes, who had been the favourite to win this year's Booker, has also published thrillers under an alter ego, using the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh.
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