Feminist author and publisher Carmen Callil has resigned from the International Man Booker Prize judging panel after it was awarded to U.S. author Philip Roth.
Callil said in the British media that Roth -- who is renowned for his explicit portrayal of male sexuality -- was a repetitive writer who did not deserve even to be on the long list for the bi-annual prize awarded to a living writer for overall contribution to fiction.
The founder of feminist publishing house Virago, Callil was one of three judges on the prize panel and was overruled by fellow panellists Justin Cartwright, a South African novelist, and Rick Gekoski, a writer and rare book dealer, who awarded Roth the 60,000 pound ($96,960) prize.
"I think Carmen was just very disappointed, I think she thought we would find somebody different. But when we looked at all these people we honestly thought Roth was the giant amongst them," Cartwright told Reuters on Thursday.
The shortlist for this year's prize also featured Philip Pullman, Anne Tyler and Marilynne Robinson.
"He is a bit like the piece of grit that gets in an oyster and produces a pearl. He has done a lot to invigorate American literature," Cartwright said of Roth
Pulitzer Prize-winner Roth's critically acclaimed works include "The Human Stain", "American Pastoral" and "Portnoy's Complaint", featuring a detailed description of masturbation.
But Callil was quoted in the Thursday edition of Britain's Guardian newspaper as saying of Roth: "He goes on and on and on about the same subject in almost every single book. It's as though he's sitting on your face and you can't breathe."