Award for New Writers - Winners and Short Lists: 2005- Present

About This Award:

The Orange Broadband Award for New Writers is open to all first works of fiction written by women of any age or nationality and published in the UK between 1 April of the year before the prize is awarded and 31 March of the year in which the prize is awarded. Emphasis is on potential and emerging talent.

Short story collections and novellas are also eligible.

2010

The Boy Next Door, by Irene Sabatini - WINNER
The Book of Fires, by Jane Borodale
After the Fire, A Still Small Voice, by Evie Wyld

2009

An Equal Stillness, by Francesca Kay - WINNER
Miles From Nowhere, by Nami Mun
The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, by Ann Weisgarber

2008

Inglorious, by Joanna Kavenna - WINNER
The Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff
The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam, by Lauren Liebenberg

2007

The Lizard Cage, by Karen Connelly - WINNER
Poppy Shakespeare, by Clare Allan
Bitter Sweets, by Roopa Farooki

2006

Disobedience, by Naomi Alderman - WINNER
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, by Yiyun Li
The Dream Life of Sukhanov, by Olga Grushin

2005

26a, by Diana Evans - WINNER
Lucky Girls, by Nell Freudenberger
How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff

Orange Prize Fiction Winners and Shortlists: 1996 to the Present

About This Award:

The Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction is awarded to women of any nationality who have written the best, eligible full-length novel in English. Eligible works must have been
published for the first time in the United Kingdom between 1 April of the year before the prize is awarded and 31 March of the year in which the prize is awarded.

Translations of books originally written in other languages are not eligible for the prize.

2012

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - WINNER
Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright
Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick
Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

2011

The Tiger’s Wife, by Tea Obreht - WINNER
Room, by Emma Donoghue
The Memory of Love, by Aminatta Forna
Grace Williams Says It Loud, by Emma Henderson
Great House, by Nicole Krauss
Annabel, by Kathleen Winter

2010

The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver - WINNER

The Very Thought of You, by Rosie Alison
Black Water Rising, by Attica Locke
Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
A Gate at the Stairs, by Lorrie Moore
The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, by Monique Roffey

2009

Home, by Marilynne Robinson - WINNER
Scottsboro, by Ellen Feldman
The Wilderness, by Samantha Harvey
The Invention of Everything Else, by Samantha Hunt
Molly Fox’s Birthday, by Deirdre Madden
Burnt Shadows, by Kamila Shamsie

2008

The Road Home, by Rose Tremain - WINNER
Fault Lines, by Nancy Huston
The Outcast, by Sadie Jones
When We Were Bad, by Charlotte Mendelson
Lullabies for Little Criminals, by Heather O'Neill
Lottery, by Patricia Wood

2007

Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - WINNER
Arlington Park, by Rachel Cusk
The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, by Xiaolu Guo
The Observations, by Jane Harris
Digging to America, by Anne Tyler

2006

On Beauty, by Zadie Smith - WINNER
The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss
Beyond Black, by Hilary Mantel
The Accidental, by Ali Smith
Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, by Carrie Tiffany
The Night Watch, by Sarah Waters

2005

We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver - WINNER
Old Filth, by Jane Gardam
The Mammoth Cheese, by Sheri Holman
Liars and Saints, by Maile Meloy
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, by Marina Lewycka

2004

Small Island, by Andrea Levy - WINNER
Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood
The Great Fire, by Shirley Hazzard
Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Ice Road, by Gillian Slovo
The Colour, by Rose Tremain

2003

Property, by Valerie Martin - WINNER
Buddha Da, by Anne Donovan
Heligoland, by Shena Mackay
Unless, by Carol Shields
The Autograph Man, by Zadie Smith
The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt

2002

Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett- WINNER
No Bones, by Anna Burns
The Siege, by Helen Dunmore
The White Family, by Maggie Gee
A Child's Book of True Crime, by Chloe Hooper
Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters

2001

The Idea of Perfection, by Kate Grenville - WINNER
The Blind Assassin, by Margaret Atwood
Fred & Edie, by Jill Dawson
Hotel World, by Ali Smith
Homestead, by Rosina Lippi
Horse Heaven, by Jane Smiley

2000

When I Lived in Modern Times, by Linda Grant - WINNER
If I Told You Once, by Judy Budnitz
Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
The Dancers Dancing, by Eilis Ni Dhuibhne
White Teeth, by Zadie Smith

1999

A Crime in the Neighborhood, by Suzanne Berne - WINNER
The Short History of a Prince, by Jane Hamilton
The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
Paradise, by Toni Morrison
The Leper's Companions, by Julia Blackburn
Visible Worlds, by Marilyn Bowering

1998

Larry's Party, by Carol Shield - WINNER
Lives of the Monster Dogs, by Kirsten Bakis
The Ventriloquist's Tale, by Pauline Melville
The Magician's Assistant, by Ann Patchett
Love Like Hate Adore, by Deirdre Purcell
The Weight of Water, by Anita Shreve

1997

Fugitive Pieces, by Anne Michaels - WINNER
Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood
One by One in the Darkness, by Deirdre Madden
Accordion Crimes, by E. Annie Proulx
Hen's Teeth, by Manda Scott
I Was Amelia Earhart, by Jane Mendelsohn

1996

A Spell of Winter, by Helen Dunmore - WINNER
The Book of Colour, by Julia Blackburn
Spinsters, by Pagan Kennedy
The Hundred Secret Senses, by Amy Tan
Ladder of Years, by Anne Tyler
Eveless Eden, by Marianne Wiggins

The Orange Prize for Fiction - Long Lists (1996 - Present)

For those readers wanting to really stretch, I've included additional books which appeared on the Orange Prize for Fiction Long List for each year.

2012

Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg
On the Floor by Aifric Campbell
The Grief of Others by Leah Hager Cohen
The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue
The Flying Man by Roopa Farooki
Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon
Gillespie and I by Jane Harris
The Translation of the Bones by Francesca Kay
The Blue Book by A.L. Kennedy
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
There but for the by Ali Smith
The Pink Hotel by Anna Stothard
Tides of War by Stella Tillyard
The Submission by Amy Waldman  

2011

Lyrics Alley, by Leila Aboulela
Jamrach's Menagerie, by Carol Birch
The Pleasure Seekers, by Tishani Doshi
Whatever You Love, by Louise Doughty
A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan
The London Train, by Tessa Hadley
The Seas, by Samantha Hunt
The Birth of Love, by Joanna Kavenna
The Road to Wanting, by Wendy Law-Yone
The Invisible Bridge, by Julie Orringer
Repeat it Today with Tears, by Anne Peile
Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives, by Lola Shoneyin
The Swimmer, by Roma Tearne

2010

The Rehearsal, by Eleanor Catton
Savage Lands, by Clare Clark
Hearts and Minds by Amanda Craig
The Way Things Look to Me, by Roopa Farooki
The Twisted Heart, by Rebecca Gowers
This is How, by M.J. Hyland
Small Wars, by Sadie Jones
Secret Son, by Laila Lalami
The Long Song, by Andrea Levy
The Wilding, by Maria McCann
Black Mamba Boy, by Nadifa Mohamed
The Still Point, by Amy Sackville
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters

2009

The Household Guide for Dying, by Debra Adelaide
Girl in a Blue Dress, by Gaynor Arnold
Their Finest Hour and a Half, by Lissa Evans
Blonde Roots, by Bernardine Evaristo
Strange Music, by Laura Fish
Love Marriage, by V.V. Ganeshananthan
Intuition, by Allegra Goodman
The Lost Dog, by Michelle de Kretser
A Mercy, by Toni Morrison
The Russian Dreambook of Colour and Flight, by Gina Ochsner
Evening is the Whole Day, by Preeta Samarasan
American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld
The Flying Troutmans, by Miriam Toews
The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, by Ann Weisgarber

2008

The Blood of Flowers, by Anita Amirrezvani
The Room of Lost Things, by Stella Duffy
The Keep, by Jennifer Egan
The Gathering, by Anne Enright
The Clothes on Their Backs, by Linda Grant
The Master Bedroom, by Tessa Hadley
Sorry, by Gail Jones
The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam, by Lauren Liebenberg
In The Dark, by Deborah Moggach
Mistress, by Anita Nair
The Bastard of Istanbul, by Elif Shafak
The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer
The End of Mr Y, by Scarlett Thomas
Monster Love, by Carol Topolski

2007

Poppy Shakespeare, by Clare Allan
Peripheral Vision, by Patricia Ferguson
Over, by Margaret Forster
The Dissident, by Nell Freudenberger
When to Walk, by Rebecca Gowers
Carry Me Down, by MJ Hyland
The Girls, by Lori Lansens
Alligator, by Lisa Moore
What Was Lost, by Catherine O'Flynn
The Tenderness of Wolves, by Stef Penney
Careless, by Deborah Robertson
Afterwards, by Rachel Seiffert
Ten Days in the Hills, by Jane Smiley
The Housekeeper, by Melanie Wallace

2006

Minaret, by Leila Aboulela
Harbor, by Lorraine Adams
Disobedience, by Naomi Alderman
Watch Me Disappear, by Jill Dawson
House of Orphans, by Helen Dunmore
The Constant Princess, by Philippa Gregory
White Ghost Girls, by Alice Greenway
Dreams of Speaking, by Gail Jones
Lost in the Forest, by Sue Miller
Rape: A Love Story, by Joyce Carol Oates
Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson
Prep, by Curtis Sittenfeld
Frangipani, by Celestine Hitiura Vaite
The Position, by Meg Wolitzer

2005

Away From You, by Melanie Finn
Black Dirt, by Nell Leyshon
Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson
Escape Routes for Beginners, by Kira Cochrane
The Falls, by Joyce Carol Oates
It So Happens, by Patricia Ferguson
The Mysteries of Glass, by Sue Gee
Nelson's Daughter, by Miranda Hearn
The Remedy, by Michele Lovric
The River, by Tricia Wastvedt
The Great Stink, by Clare Clark
Tatty, by Christine Dwyer Hickey
The Zigzag Way, by Anita Desai
Ursula, Under, by Ingrid Hill

2004

Brick Lane, by Monica Ali
The Sari Shop, by Rupa Bajwa
Kith and Kin, by Stevie Davies
State of Happiness, by Stella Duffy
The Flood, by Maggie Gee
The Electric Michelangelo, by Sarah Hall
Notes on a Scandal, by Zoe Heller
The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri
A Visit from Voltaire, by Dinah Lee Kung
Gilgamesh, by Joan London
The Internationals, by Sarah May
Love, by Toni Morrison
The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
The Amateur Marriage, by Anne Tyler

2003Special, by Bella Bathhurst
Caramelo, by Sandra Cisneros
English Correspondence, by Janet Davey
Dot in the Universe, by Lucy Ellmann
What the Birds See, by Sonya Hartnett
What I Loved, by Siri Hustvedt
War Crimes for the Home, by Liz Jensen
The Solace of Leaving Early, by Haven Kimmel
In the Forest, by Edna O'Brien
Fox Girl, by Okja Keller
When the Emperor Was Divine, by Julie Otsuka
Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
The Cutting Room, by Louise Welsh
Water Street, by Crystal Wilkinson

2002

Pop, by Kitty Aldridge
A True Story Based on Lies, by Jennifer Clement
Now You See Me, by Lesley Glaister
The Element of Water, by Stevie Davies
Five Quarters of an Orange, by Joanne Harris
Niagara Falls All Over Again, by Elizabeth McCracken
The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk
Middle Ages, by Joyce Carol Oates
The Story of My Face, by Kathy Page
Crawling at Night, by Nani Power
La Cucina, by Lily Prior
The Hero's Walk, by Anita Rau Badami
Sister Crazy, by Emma Richler
The Dark Room, by Rachel Seiffert

2001

The Hiding Place, by Trezza Azzopardi
In the Blue House, by Meaghan Delahunt
The Last Samurai, by Helen Dewitt
Fish, Blood & Bone, by Leslie Forbes
The Wild, by Esther Freud
Dog Days, Glenn Miller Nights, by Laurie Graham
Nowhere Else on Earth, by Josephine Humphreys
Ahab's Wife, by Sena Jeter Naslund
From Caucasia, with Love, by Danzy Senna
The Bonesetter's Daughter, by Amy Tan
The PowerBook, by Jeanette Winterson
MotherKind, by Jayne Ann Phillips

2000

The Translator, by Leila Aboulela
Girl With A Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier
Fasting, Feasting, by Anita Desai
A Dangerous Vine, by Barbara Ewing
Danny Boy, by Jo-Ann Goodwin
A Sin of Colour, by Sunetra Gupt
Born Free, by Laura Hird
Everything You Need, by A.L. Kennedy
The Hunter, by Julia Leigh
Charming Billy, by Alice McDermott
Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith, by Gina B. Nahai
Island, by Jane Rogers
Last Chance Texaco, by Christine Pountney
What the Body Remembers, by Shauna Singh Baldwin

1999

Master Georgie, by Beryl Bainbridge
The Voyage of the Narwhal, by Andrea Barrett
In A Fishbone Church, by Catherine Chidgey
Crocodile Soup, by Julia Darling
Restitution, by Maureen Duffy
Trumpet, by Jackie Kay
Comfort Woman, by Nora Okja Keller
Buxton Spice, by Oonya Kempadoo
The Vintner's Luck, by Elizabeth Knox
Marchlands, by Karla Kuban
The Giant O'Brien, by Hilary Mantel
The Most Wanted, by Jacquelyn Mitchard
A History of Silence, by Barbara Neil
Evening News, by Marly Swick

1998

Bitter Grounds, by Sandra Benitez
Man or Mango? by Lucy Ellmann
Gaglow, by Esther Freud
The Aguero Sisters, by Cristina Garcia
The House Gun, by Nadine Gordimer
The Breaking, by Kathryn Heyman
Round Rock, by Michelle Huneven
Ark Baby, by Liz Jensen
Undiscovered Country, by Christina Koning
The Orchard, by Drusilla Modjeska
Black and Blue, by Anna Quindlen
Impossible Saints, by Michele Roberts
The Underpainter, by Jane Urquhart
Baby Love, by Louis Young

1997

Every Man For Himself, by Beryl Bainbridge
Death Comes for Peter Pan, by Joan Brady
The Mistress of Spices, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Last Thing He Wanted, by Joan Didion
The Cast Iron Shore, by Linda Grant
The Enchantment of Lily Dahl, by Siri Hustvedt
The Autobiography of My Mother, by Jamaica Kincaid
With Child, by Laurie R. King
Fall On Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald
All the Blood is Red, by Leone Ross
Red Leaves, by Paulina Simons
Anita and Me, by Meera Syal
Gut Symmetries, by Jeanette Winterson
The Frequency of Souls, by Mary Kay Zuravleff

1996

The Ghost Road, by Pat Barker
Official and Doubtful, by Ajay Close
The Rape of Sita, by Lindsey Collen
Keeping Up with Magda, by Isla Dewar
The Blue Flower, by Penelope Fitzgerald
The Private Parts of Women, by Lesley Glaister
The Passion of Alice, by Stephanie Grant
Egg Dancing, by Liz Jensen
So I Am Glad, by A.L. Kennedy
Never Far From Nowhere, by Andrea Levy
Mother of Pearl, by Mary Morrissy
Promised Lands, by Jane Rogers
River Lines, by Elspeth Sandys

Laura's Review - Sorry

Sorry
Gail Jones
230 pages

Sorry opens with 10-year-old Perdita Keene witnessing her father's brutal death. Perdita's parents (Stella and Nicholas) moved from England to the Australian outback as newlyweds; Nicholas was stationed there as an anthropologist, studying native Aboriginal people. They lived on a remote ranch belonging to the Trevor family. Nicholas was remote and unfeeling; Stella was mentally unstable. Perdita's education was provided by Stella, and centered almost exclusively on the works of Shakespeare. Perdita's only friends were the Trevor's deaf-mute son, Billy, and a teenage Aboriginal housekeeper named Mary. After the tragedy, Mary confessed to murder and was sent away to a reform school in Perth. Nicholas' murder was never discussed. Perdita repressed all memories, developed a stutter, and lost herself in books:

Because we were stranded together and because I stuttered, we read. there is no refuge so private, no asylum more sane. There is no facility of voices captured elsewhere so entire and so marvellous. My tongue was lumpish and fixed, but in reading, silent reading, there was a release, a flight, a wheeling off into the blue spaces of exclamatory experience, diffuse and improbable, gloriously homeless. All that was solid melted into air, all that was air reshaped, and gained plausibility. (p. 43)

In the years that followed, Stella was in and out of hospital for psychiatric treatment. The Trevors cared for Perdita, until events of World War II forced evacuation to Perth and the families separated. Stella and Perdita were forced to live on their own for the first time, and Perdita found herself an outcast in the local school. Slowly, and with the help of kind souls who shall go nameless so as to avoid spoilers, Perdita begins the process of piecing together her past and rebuilding her life.

The story itself is a compellingly good read. And it operates on a deeper level as well. In an author's note, Jones writes, "The word 'sorry' has dense and complicated meanings in Australia.' " She describes the historical context of Sorry Day and the Stolen Generation, in which indigenous Aboriginal children were removed from their families. Jones touched on issues of prejudice, separation and assimilation, and when she addressed the need for apology this novel suddenly struck me as hugely allegorical. This book combines rich characterizations with deep emotional impact -- always a winning combination for me. This is a beautiful, moving book. ( )

My original review can be found here.

Who is going to win the Orange Prize 2009?

I have now read all six books short listed for the Orange Prize 2009. Overall, I wasn't very impressed with the quality of books which made the short list. I think that the judges this year must be fans of literary fiction, particularly books which are reflective and full of wisdom. I prefer great characters and a complex plot, so I didn't get much pleasure from reading the final six.

So who is going to win the Orange Prize this year?

Here are my thoughts on each book's chances.....


The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt



My review

I don't think this has a real chance of winning. Some people enjoyed it, and it does have some interesting literary devices in it, but overall it doesn't have the feel of a prize winning book.


Molly Fox's Birthday by Deirdre Madden



My review

There is an outside chance that this could win the Orange Prize. Fans of literary fiction really enjoy this book, and lovers of general fiction (like me) do not find anything wrong with it. It is a nice gentle read, and it does have a great ending. If the judges are a mixture of literary fiction and general fiction lovers then they could well compromise on their favourite book by agreeing to choose this as a winner.



Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman



My review

I don't think this has a realistic chance of winning. There is nothing wrong with it, but it doesn't have that magic spark. It is a reasonable read about an important historical case, but I think it did well to get nominated.



Home by Marilynne Robinson


My review

I think that Home has a very real chance of winning the Orange Prize. Fans of literary fiction love this book, they rave about it being their favourite book of the year, and how amazing the poetic prose is. I didn't enjoy it at all, but I've a feeling that the judges do and so it will probably win.


The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey

My review

This my favourite by a long way. The writing was so moving and thought provoking. It was in a league above the rest for me and I really hope that it wins, but I'm not that sure it will.

Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie



My review

Burnt Shadows has an outside chance of winning. The plot is very ambitious, and I don't think it quite worked, but everyone enjoyed it to some extent, and there were quite a few literary devices to please those judges. I wouldn't be overly surprised if this managed to sneak through to win, as not many books try to achieve the things this one does.



The winner is announced on 3rd June, and I really hope that The Wilderness wins, but if I had to place a bet I'd put my money on Home.

Have you read any of the shortlist?

Who do you think will win?

I look forward to hearing your opinions!

The Road Home by Rose Tremain (Jackie's Review)

The Road Home tells the story of Lev, a migrant worker from Eastern Europe, travelling to England in the hope of finding enough money to support his mother and daughter, back in his home country. Still grieving from the death of his wife, he tries to build a new life for himself in a country where he doesn’t know anyone, and struggles to understand many of the English customs.

The detailed observations of London made me see my own country in a new light. Some of the things that I see every day were described so vividly that I saw them through new eyes, those of a migrant worker coming to the UK for the first time, and what I saw was both unsettling and true.

The writing style was reminiscent of A Fine Balance, which is very high praise from me, as Rohinton Mistry’s book is currently my favourite of all time. I loved the detail, and the emotion behind the words.

I’m not sure how realistic many of Lev’s experiences were; opportunities continually seemed to land in front of him, and I’m sure life for a real migrant worker would actually have been much tougher, especially in the first few weeks.

I was a little disappointed with the ending. It was so neat that it was as if the final chapter had been written first, and then everything else fanned out backwards from this point, rather than a natural progression from beginning to end. It was also a bit predictable from about the halfway point, but I’m willing to forgive these few niggles, as this really is a great book. It is packed with emotion, and enforces the message that family and friendships are more important that anything else in the world.

This book isn’t for everyone, as it is slow in places, contains a lot of observational passages, and the number of stereotypes will make some people cringe. I loved it, despite it’s flaws. It is a worthy winner of the Orange prize, and I recommend it to all lovers of well written fiction.

4/5

Originally reviewed here.

2009 Lists Announced...

The shortlist for the Orange Prize for New Writers 2009 has been announced and includes:

• An Equal Stillness, by Francesca Kay
• Miles From Nowhere, by Nami Mun
• The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, by Ann Weisgarber

Also the longlist for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2009 has been announced and includes:

• The Household Guide for Dying, by Debra Adelaide
• Girl in a Blue Dress, by Gaynor Arnold
• Their Finest Hour and a Half, by Lissa Evans
• Blonde Roots, by Bernardine Evaristo
• Scottsboro, by Ellen Feldman
• Strange Music, by Laura Fish
• Love Marriage, by V.V. Ganeshananthan
• Intuition, by Allegra Goodman
• The Wilderness, by Samantha Harvey
• The Invention of Everything Else, by Samantha Hunt
• The Lost Dog, by Michelle de Kretser
• Molly Fox’s Birthday, by Deirdre Madden
• A Mercy, by Toni Morrison
• The Russian Dreambook of Colour and Flight, by Gina Ochsner
• Home, by Marilynne Robinson
• Evening is the Whole Day, by Preeta Samarasan
• Burnt Shadows, by Kamila Shamsie
• American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld
• The Flying Troutmans, by Miriam Toews
• The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, by Ann Weisgarber

Look for the shortlist for this prize on April 21st.