Mel Giedroyc steps down as International Booker Prize judge for personal reasons

Television presenter Mel Giedroyc has stepped down as a judge for the 2022 International Booker Prize for personal reasons.

The organisers of the £50,000 literature prize said writer and comedian Viv Groskop will replace her on the judging panel.

The International Booker Prize is awarded annually to the best single work of fiction translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.

Groskop is joined on the panel by translators Frank Wynne and Jeremy Tiang, author Merve Emre and lawyer Petina Gappah.

Fiammetta Rocco, administrator of the International Booker Prize, said: “We’re excited to welcome Viv to this year’s judging panel, and delighted that she has been able to step in.

“It’s unfortunate that Mel has had to withdraw but we wish her all the very best and hope she is able to join a judging panel at a later date.”

The International Booker Prize longlist of 12 or 13 books will be announced in March 2022, followed by a shortlist of six books in April.

The winners will then be revealed in May.

The prize money is split equally between the author and translator.

In June, David Diop became the first French author to win the prize with his novel At Night All Blood Is Black.