The Orange Prize for Fiction
December 29th 2006 04:54
The Orange Prize is a new (well, new as far as literary awards go) prize for fiction that has been running for 10 years now. It is awarded to women of any nationality, though the prize rules stipulate that the book in question must be newly published in the UK and written in English.
The Orange Prize was created to address the statistical lack of literary awards given to female writers. It is also judged exlusively by women, to celebrate female critical analysis.
Here are the past winners...
'A Spell of Winter' - Helen Dunmore (1996)
'Fugitive Pieces' - Anne Michaels (1997)
'Larry's Party' - Carol Shields (1998)
'A Crime in the Neighbourhood' - Suzanne Berne (1999)
'When I Lived in Modern Times' - Linda Grant (2000)
'The Idea of Perfection' - Kate Grenville (2001)
'Bel Canto' - Anne Patchett (2002)
'Property' - Valeria Martin (2003)
'Small Island' - Andrea Levy (2004)
'We Need to Talk About Kevin' - Lionel Shriver (2005)
'On Beauty' - Zadie Smith (2006)
Some people have a problem with the prize because it's exclusively for women. I don't particularly mind either way, I see it as the 'Best Actress Oscar' as opposed to the 'Best Actor Oscar'. There's nothing wrong with it, it's celebrating the absolute best that female writers have to offer. People should focus on what it is rather than what it isn't. If you're looking for a unisex literary prize there are plenty of them to choose from. I don't think anyone could really argue that these books are without merit, these are all well-renowned and talented writers who deserve the praise they're given.
Power to the people.
The Orange Prize was created to address the statistical lack of literary awards given to female writers. It is also judged exlusively by women, to celebrate female critical analysis.
Here are the past winners...
'A Spell of Winter' - Helen Dunmore (1996)
'Fugitive Pieces' - Anne Michaels (1997)
'A Crime in the Neighbourhood' - Suzanne Berne (1999)
'When I Lived in Modern Times' - Linda Grant (2000)
'The Idea of Perfection' - Kate Grenville (2001)
'Bel Canto' - Anne Patchett (2002)
'Property' - Valeria Martin (2003)
'Small Island' - Andrea Levy (2004)
'We Need to Talk About Kevin' - Lionel Shriver (2005)
'On Beauty' - Zadie Smith (2006)
Some people have a problem with the prize because it's exclusively for women. I don't particularly mind either way, I see it as the 'Best Actress Oscar' as opposed to the 'Best Actor Oscar'. There's nothing wrong with it, it's celebrating the absolute best that female writers have to offer. People should focus on what it is rather than what it isn't. If you're looking for a unisex literary prize there are plenty of them to choose from. I don't think anyone could really argue that these books are without merit, these are all well-renowned and talented writers who deserve the praise they're given.
Power to the people.
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