Orange Prize for Fiction

The Orange Prize for Fiction (known as the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction from 2007 to 2008) is one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious literary prizes, annually awarded to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 written in English, and published in the United Kingdom in the preceding year. The prize was originally due to be launched in 1994 with the support of Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi

The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...

 but public controversy over the merits of the award caused the sponsorship to be withdrawn. Funding from Orange

Orange United Kingdom

Orange is a mobile network operator and internet service provider in the United Kingdom, which launched in 1994. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was purchased by France Télécom in 2000, which then adopted the Orange brand for all its other mobile communications activities...

, a UK mobile network operator

Mobile network operator

A mobile network operator , also known as mobile phone operator , carrier service provider , wireless service provider, wireless carrier, or cellular company, or mobile network carrier is a telephone company that provides services for mobile phone subscribers.One essential...

 and Internet service provider

Internet service provider

An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...

, allowed the prize to be launched in 1996 by a committee of male and female "journalists, reviewers, agents, publishers, librarians, booksellers", including current Honorary Director Kate Mosse

Kate Mosse

Kate Mosse is an English author and broadcaster. She is best known for her 2005 novel Labyrinth, which has been translated into more than 37 languages.- Private life :...

.

The prize was established to recognise the contribution of female writers, whom Mosse believed were often overlooked in other major literary awards, and in reaction to the all-male shortlist for the 1991 Man Booker Prize

Man Booker Prize

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...

. The winner of the prize receives £

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

30,000, along with a bronze sculpture

Bronze sculpture

Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply a "bronze".Common bronze alloys have the unusual and desirable property of expanding slightly just before they set, thus filling the finest details of a mold. Then, as the bronze cools, it...

 called the Bessie created by artist Grizel Niven, the sister of actor and writer David Niven

David Niven

James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...

. Typically, a longlist of nominees is announced around March each year, followed by a shortlist in June; within days the winner is announced. The winner is selected by a board of "five leading women" each year. In 2005, judges named Andrea Levy

Andrea Levy

Andrea Levy is a British author, born in London to Jamaican parents who sailed to England on the Empire Windrush in 1948.-Identity and writings:...

's Small Island

Small Island

Small Island is a 2004 prize-winning novel by British author Andrea Levy. It was adapted for television in two episodes by the BBC in 2009....

as the "Orange of Oranges", the best novel of the preceding decade.

The BBC suggests that the Orange Prize forms part of the "trinity" of UK literary prizes, along with the Man Booker Prize and the Costa Book Awards

Costa Book Awards

The Costa Book Awards are a series of literary awards given to books by authors based in Great Britain and Ireland. They were known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2005, after which Costa Coffee, a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship....

; the sales of works by the nominees of these awards are significantly boosted. Levy's 2004 winning book sold almost one million copies (in comparison to less than 600,000 for the Man Booker Prize winner of the same year), while sales of Helen Dunmore

Helen Dunmore

Helen Dunmore is a British poet, novelist and children's writer. Educated at the University of York, she now lives in Bristol....

's A Spell of Winter

A Spell of Winter

A Spell of Winter is a 1995 gothic novel by Helen Dunmore, set in England, around the time of World War I. The novel was the first recipient of the Orange Prize for Fiction, in 1996.-Synopsis:...

quadrupled after being awarded the inaugural prize. Valerie Martin

Valerie Martin

Valerie Martin is an American novelist and short story writer. She has also taught at Mount Holyoke College, Loyola University New Orleans, The University of New Orleans, The University of Alabama, and Sarah Lawrence College, among other institutions. She is a graduate of the MFA Program for...

's 2003 award saw her novel sales increase tenfold after the award, and British libraries, who often support the prize with various promotions, reported success in introducing people to new authors: "48% said that they had tried new writers as a result of the promotion, and 42% said that they would try other books by the new authors they had read."

However, the fact that the prize singles out female writers is not without controversy. After the prize was founded, Auberon Waugh

Auberon Waugh

Auberon Alexander Waugh was a British author and journalist, son of the novelist Evelyn Waugh. He was known to his family and friends as Bron Waugh.-Life and career:...

 nicknamed it the "Lemon

Lemon (automobile)

A lemon is a car, often new, that is found to be defective only after it has been bought. Any vehicle with numerous, severe issues can be termed a "lemon", and, by extension, any product with flaws too great or severe to serve its purpose can be described as a "lemon".-Origin:The use of the word...

 Prize" while Germaine Greer

Germaine Greer

Germaine Greer is an Australian writer, academic, journalist and scholar of early modern English literature, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the later 20th century....

 claimed there would soon be a prize for "writers with red hair". Winner of the 1990 Man Booker Prize A. S. Byatt

A. S. Byatt

Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, DBE is an English novelist, poet and Booker Prize winner...

 has called it a "sexist prize", claiming "such a prize was never needed." In 1999, the chairwoman of the judges, Lola Young, claimed that British female literature fell into two categories, either "insular and parochial" or "domestic in a piddling kind of way". Linda Grant

Linda Grant (journalist)

Linda Grant is a British novelist and occasional journalist.-Early life:Linda Grant was born in Liverpool to a family of Russian and Polish Jewish immigrants....

 suffered accusations of plagiarism

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...

 following her award in 2000, while the following year, a panel of male critics produced their own shortlist and heavily criticised the genuine shortlist. The 2007 shortlist was decried for being derived from "... a lot of dross ..." by the chair of the judging panel Muriel Gray

Muriel Gray

Muriel Gray is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster.-Personal life:Gray is of partly Jewish ancestry...

, while former editor of The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

Simon Jenkins

Simon Jenkins

Sir Simon David Jenkins is a British newspaper columnist and author, and since November 2008 has been chairman of the National Trust. He currently writes columns for both The Guardian and London's Evening Standard, and was previously a commentator for The Times, which he edited from 1990 to 1992...

 called it "sexist". In 2008, writer Tim Lott

Tim Lott

Tim Lott is a British author. After running his own magazine publishing business, he graduated from the London School of Economics in 1986....

 called the award "a sexist con-trick" and suggested "the Orange Prize is sexist and discriminatory, and it should be shunned". No woman has won the award more than once but Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...

 has been nominated three times without a win. Since the inaugural award to Helen Dunmore

Helen Dunmore

Helen Dunmore is a British poet, novelist and children's writer. Educated at the University of York, she now lives in Bristol....

, British writers have won five times, while North American authors have secured the prize seven times.

Winners and shortlisted writers

Year	Winner	Work	Shortlisted nominees	Notes	Ref(s)
1996		A Spell of Winter A Spell of Winter A Spell of Winter is a 1995 gothic novel by Helen Dunmore, set in England, around the time of World War I. The novel was the first recipient of the Orange Prize for Fiction, in 1996.-Synopsis:...	Julia Blackburn Julia Blackburn Julia Blackburn is a British author of both fiction and non-fiction. She is the daughter of poet Thomas Blackburn and artist Rosalie de Meric... Pagan Kennedy Pagan Kennedy Pagan Kennedy is an author and pioneer of the 1990s zine movement, along with writer/publishers like Lisa Crystal Carver of Rollerderby, Jim Goad of ANSWER Me! and Larry Crane of Tape Op. Her autobiographical zine Pagan's Head detailed her life... Amy Tan Amy Tan Amy Tan is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships. Her most well-known work is The Joy Luck Club, which has been translated into 35 languages... Anne Tyler Anne Tyler Anne Tyler is an American novelist.Tyler, the eldest of four children, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her father was a chemist and her mother a social worker. Her early childhood was spent in a succession of Quaker communities in the mountains of North Carolina and in Raleigh... Marianne Wiggins Marianne Wiggins Marianne Wiggins is an American author. She is noted for the unusual characters and storylines in her novels. She has won the Whiting Writers' Award, an NEA award and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize.- Biography :...	Inaugural award
1997		Fugitive Pieces Fugitive Pieces Fugitive Pieces is a novel by Canadian poet Anne Michaels. First published in 1996 , it was awarded the Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Trillium Book Award, Orange Prize for Fiction and the Guardian Fiction Prize....	Margaret Atwood Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C... , Deirdre Madden Deirdre Madden Deirdre Madden is an author from Toomebridge, County Antrim in Northern Ireland. She was educated at St Mary's Grammar School, Trinity College, Dublin and at the University of East Anglia . In 1994 she was Writer-in-Residence at University College, Cork and in 1997 was Writer Fellow at Trinity... Jane Mendelsohn Jane Mendelsohn Jane Mendelsohn is an American author. She was graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Yale University in 1987, and attended Yale Law School for one year before beginning a career as a writer/journalist... E. Annie Proulx E. Annie Proulx Edna Annie Proulx is an American journalist and author. Her second novel, The Shipping News , won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for fiction in 1994, and was made into a film in 2001... Manda Scott Manda Scott Manda Scott is a veterinary surgeon and writer. Born and educated in Glasgow, Scotland, she trained at the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine and now lives and works in Shropshire, sharing her life with her partner, Inca the lurcher and other assorted wildlife. She is known...	First non-British winner
1998		Larry's Party Larry's Party Larry's Party is a 1997 novel by Carol Shields.The novel examined the life of Larry Weller, an "ordinary man made extraordinary" by his unique talent for creating labyrinths...	Kirsten Bakis Kirsten Bakis -Life:Bakis was raised in Westchester County, New York, and graduated from New York University in 1990. She is a recipient of a Teaching/Writing Fellowship from the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop, a grant from the Michener/Copernicus Society of America.... Pauline Melville Pauline Melville Pauline Melville is a Guyanese-born writer and actress. Her mother was English, and her father Guyanese. Her first book, Shape-Shifter , a collection of short stories, won the 1991 Commonwealth Writers' Prize , and the Guardian Fiction Prize.The book consists of a number of short stories dealing... Ann Patchett Ann Patchett Ann Patchett is an American author. She received the Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 2002 for her novel Bel Canto. Patchett's other novels include Run, The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft, and The Magician's Assistant, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize... Deirdre Purcell Deirdre Purcell Deirdre Purcell is an Irish author. Purcell is a former Abbey Theatre actress, who has played as Christine opposite Donal McCann in Drama at Inish, Miss Frost in the stage adaptation of The Ginger Man, and Pegeen Mike in The Playboy of the Western World. Purcell is also a former TV and press... Anita Shreve Anita Shreve Anita Shreve is an American writer. The daughter of an airline pilot and a homemaker, she graduated from Dedham High School, attended Tufts University and began writing while working as a high school teacher in Reading MA. One of her first published stories, Past the Island, Drifting, was awarded...	Second Canadian winner
1999		A Crime in the Neighborhood A Crime in the Neighborhood A Crime in the Neighborhood is a novel by Suzanne Berne. It won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 1999....	Jane Hamilton Jane Hamilton Jane Hamilton is an American novelist.Hamilton lives in Rochester, Wisconsin. She grew up in Oak Park, Illinois, the youngest of five children. She graduated from Carleton College in 1979 as an English major. Her first published works were short stories, "My Own Earth" and "Aunt Marj's Happy... Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the former Republic of Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona and worked as a freelance writer before... Toni Morrison Toni Morrison Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved... Julia Blackburn Julia Blackburn Julia Blackburn is a British author of both fiction and non-fiction. She is the daughter of poet Thomas Blackburn and artist Rosalie de Meric... Marilyn Bowering Marilyn Bowering Marilyn Bowering is a Canadian poet, novelist and playwright. She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, and currently lives in Sooke, British Columbia...	Blackburn's second shortlisted nomination
2000		When I Lived in Modern Times When I Lived in Modern Times When I Lived in Modern Times is a novel by Linda Grant. It won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2000....	Judy Budnitz Judy Budnitz Judy Budnitz is an American author. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Budnitz attended Harvard University, was a fellow at Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and received an MFA in creative writing from New York University in 1998.... Elizabeth Strout Elizabeth Strout Elizabeth Strout is an American author of fiction.She was born in Portland, Maine, and was raised in small towns in Maine and New Hampshire. After graduating from Bates College, she spent a year in Oxford, England, followed by studies at law school for another year... Éilis Ni Dhuibhne Eilis Ni Dhuibhne Éilís Ní Dhuibhne is an Irish novelist and short-story writer who writes both in Irish and English. She is also known as Elisabeth O'Hara.-Biography:... Zadie Smith Zadie Smith Zadie Smith is a British novelist. To date she has written three novels. In 2003, she was included on Granta's list of 20 best young authors... Rebecca Wells Rebecca Wells Rebecca Wells is an American author and theatre director, who wrote the Ya-Ya Sisterhood series of books, which includes Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Little Altars Everywhere, and Ya-Yas in Bloom.-Background:...	Second British winner in five years
2001		The Idea of Perfection The Idea of Perfection The Idea of Perfection is a 1999 novel by Australian author Kate Grenville.-Notes:*"Dedication: For Tom and for Alice with love"*"Epigraph: 'An arch is two weaknesses which together make a strength.' - Leonardo da Vinci "-Reviews:...	Margaret Atwood Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C... Jill Dawson Jill Dawson Jill Dawson is an English poet and novelist who grew up in Durham, England. She began publishing her poems in pamphlets and small magazines. Her first book, Trick of the Light, was published in 1996... Ali Smith Ali Smith Ali Smith is a British writer.She was born to working-class parents, raised in a council house in Inverness and now lives in Cambridge. She studied at the University of Aberdeen and then at Newnham College, Cambridge, for a PhD that was never finished. She worked as a lecturer at University of... Rosina Lippi Rosina Lippi Rosina Lippi-Green, née Rosina Lippi is an American writer. She writes under the names Rosina Lippi-Green , Rosina Lippi , and Sara Donati .... Jane Smiley Jane Smiley Jane Smiley is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist.-Biography:Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and graduated from John Burroughs School. She obtained an A.B. at Vassar College, then earned an M.F.A. and Ph.D. from the...	Atwood's second shortlisted nomination
2002		Bel Canto Bel Canto (novel) Bel Canto is a 2001 novel by American author Ann Patchett, published by Perennial, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. It was awarded both the Orange Prize for Fiction and PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction...	Anna Burns Anna Burns Anna Burns is an Irish author. She was born in Belfast and moved to London in 1987. Her first novel, No Bones, is an account of a girl's life growing up in Belfast during the Troubles.-Awards:*Winner of the 2001 Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize... Helen Dunmore Helen Dunmore Helen Dunmore is a British poet, novelist and children's writer. Educated at the University of York, she now lives in Bristol.... Maggie Gee Maggie Gee Maggie Mary Gee is an English novelist. She was born in Poole, Dorset, then moved to the Midlands and later to Sussex. She was educated at state schools and at Oxford University . She later worked in publishing and then had a research post at Wolverhampton Polytechnic where she completed a... Chloe Hooper Chloe Hooper Chloe Hooper is an Australian author. Her first novel, A Child’s Book of True Crime , was short-listed for the Orange Prize for Literature and was a New York Times Notable Book... Sarah Waters Sarah Waters Sarah Waters is a British novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society, such as Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith.-Childhood:Sarah Waters was born in Neyland, Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1966....	Dunmore's first nomination since winning in 1996
2003		Property	Anne Donovan Anne Donovan (author) Anne Donovan is a Scottish author from Coatbridge most known for her award-winning Buddha Da. She also wrote the short story collection Hieroglyphics... Shena Mackay Shena Mackay Shena Mackay FRSL , is a Scottish novelist born in Edinburgh. She was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1996 for The Orchard on Fire.-Biography:... Carol Shields Carol Shields Carol Ann Shields, CC, OM, FRSC, MA was an American-born Canadian author. She is best known for her 1993 novel The Stone Diaries, which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as the Governor General's Award in Canada.-Biography:Shields was born in Oak Park, Illinois... Zadie Smith Zadie Smith Zadie Smith is a British novelist. To date she has written three novels. In 2003, she was included on Granta's list of 20 best young authors... Donna Tartt Donna Tartt Donna Tartt is an American writer and author of the novels The Secret History and The Little Friend . She won the WH Smith Literary Award for The Little Friend in 2003.-Early life:...	Shields' first nomination since winning in 1998, Smith's second shortlisted nomination
2004		Small Island Small Island Small Island is a 2004 prize-winning novel by British author Andrea Levy. It was adapted for television in two episodes by the BBC in 2009....	Rose Tremain Rose Tremain Rose Tremain CBE is an English author.-Life:Rose Tremain was born Rosemary Jane Thomson on August 2, 1943 in London and attended Francis Holland School then Crofton Grange School from 1954 to 1961; the Sorbonne from 1961–1962; and graduated from the University of East Anglia in 1965 where she then... Gillian Slovo Gillian Slovo Gillian Slovo is a South African born novelist, playwright and memoirist.Her novels were at first predominantly of the crime and thriller genres, including a series featuring the detective Kate Baeier but she has since written more literary fiction... Shirley Hazzard Shirley Hazzard Shirley Hazzard is an Australian author of fiction and nonfiction. She was born in Australia, but holds citizenship in Great Britain and the United States... Margaret Atwood Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C... Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer.Her family is of Igbo descent. In 2008 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.-Early life and education:...	First British winner since 2000, Atwood's third shortlisted nomination. Small Island was also the Whitbread Book of the Year.
2005		We Need to Talk About Kevin We Need to Talk About Kevin We Need to Talk About Kevin is a 2003 novel by Lionel Shriver, published by Serpent's Tail, about a fictional school massacre. It is written from the perspective of the killer's mother, Eva Khatchadourian, and documents her attempt to come to terms with her son Kevin and the murders he committed...	Joolz Denby Joolz Denby Joolz Denby is a poet, novelist and artist based in Bradford, UK.-Biography:... Jane Gardam Jane Gardam Jane Mary Gardam OBE is a British author of children's and adult fiction. She also reviews for the Spectator and the Telegraph, and writes for BBC radio, where her current project is six programmes on the suburbs. She lives in Kent, Wimbledon, and Yorkshire. She has won numerous literary awards,... Sheri Holman Sheri Holman Sheri Holman is an American novelist.Holman was born in Hanover County, Virginia. After graduating from The College of William & Mary in 1988 with a degree in theatre, she moved to New York and worked in various positions in the publishing industry, eventually becoming the assistant to a literary... Maile Meloy Maile Meloy Maile Meloy is an American author of fiction. She was born in Helena, Montana, where she was also raised.Meloy graduated from the University of California, Irvine with an M.F.A... Marina Lewycka Marina Lewycka Marina Lewycka is a British novelist of Ukrainian origin, currently living in Sheffield, England.-Biography:Marina Lewycka was born in a refugee camp in Kiel, Germany after World War II. Her family subsequently moved to England where she now lives...	Shriver revealed that she changed her name from Margaret Ann Shriver because she believed "men had an easier life". In 2005 the "Orange of Oranges" was awarded to Andrea Levy for Small Island Small Island Small Island is a 2004 prize-winning novel by British author Andrea Levy. It was adapted for television in two episodes by the BBC in 2009.... .
2006		On Beauty On Beauty On Beauty is a 2005 novel by British author Zadie Smith. It takes its title from an essay by Elaine Scarry . The story follows the lives of a mixed-race British/American family living in the United States...	Nicole Krauss Nicole Krauss Nicole Krauss is an American author best known for her novels Man Walks Into a Room , The History of Love and, most recently, Great House... Hilary Mantel Hilary Mantel Hilary Mary Mantel CBE , née Thompson, is an English novelist, short story writer and critic. Her work, ranging in subject from personal memoir to historical fiction, has been short-listed for major literary awards... Ali Smith Ali Smith Ali Smith is a British writer.She was born to working-class parents, raised in a council house in Inverness and now lives in Cambridge. She studied at the University of Aberdeen and then at Newnham College, Cambridge, for a PhD that was never finished. She worked as a lecturer at University of... Carrie Tiffany Carrie Tiffany Carrie Tiffany is an English-born Australian novelist and former park ranger.-Biography:Tiffany was born in West Yorkshire and migrated to Australia with her family in the early 1970s. She grew up in Perth, Western Australia... Sarah Waters Sarah Waters Sarah Waters is a British novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society, such as Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith.-Childhood:Sarah Waters was born in Neyland, Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1966....	Zadie Smith's first win after two nominations, Ali Smith and Sarah Waters' second nomination
2007		Half of a Yellow Sun Half of a Yellow Sun Half of a Yellow Sun is a novel by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Published in 2006 by Knopf/Anchor, it tells the story of two sisters, Olanna and Kainene, during the Biafran War.-Plot:...	Rachel Cusk Rachel Cusk -Biography:Rachel Cusk was born in Canada in 1967 and spent much of her childhood in Los Angeles before finishing her education at St Mary's Convent in Cambridge. She read English at New College, Oxford, and has travelled extensively in Spain and Central America. She is the author of six novels.... Kiran Desai Kiran Desai Kiran Desai is an Indian author who is a citizen of India and a permanent resident of the United States. Her novel The Inheritance of Loss won the 2006 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Award... Xiaolu Guo Xiaolu Guo Xiaolu Guo born 1973) is a Chinese novelist and filmmaker, who uses film and literary language to explore themes of alienation, memory, personal journeys, daily tragedies and develops her own vision of China's past and its future in a global environment.... Jane Harris Jane Harris (writer) Jane Harris is a British writer of fiction and screenplays. Her most recent work is the . Her first novel, The Observations, was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2007... Anne Tyler Anne Tyler Anne Tyler is an American novelist.Tyler, the eldest of four children, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her father was a chemist and her mother a social worker. Her early childhood was spent in a succession of Quaker communities in the mountains of North Carolina and in Raleigh...	Adichie's first win after being nominated in 2004, Tyler's second shortlisted nomination. Prize renamed "Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction".
2008		The Road Home The Road Home (novel) The Road Home is a 2007 novel by Rose Tremain.-Plot summary:The story concerns with Lev who is a middle-aged immigrant and widowed. He leaves Auror, a village in an unspecified eastern European country, when the sawmill closes. Soon after, he travels to London to find work so he can make money that...	Nancy Huston Nancy Huston Nancy Louise Huston, OC is a Canadian-born novelist and essayist who writes primarily in French and translates her own works into English.-Biography:... Sadie Jones Sadie Jones Sadie Jones is an English writer and novelist.Jones was raised in London, the daughter of Evan Jones, a Jamaican-born poet and scriptwriter, who worked with director Joseph Losey on several projects and Joanna Jones, an actor... Charlotte Mendelson Charlotte Mendelson -Biography:Her maternal grandparents were, in her words, "Hungarian-speaking-Czech, Ruthenian for about 10 minutes, Carpathian mountain-y, impossible to describe", who left Prague in 1939.She was born in 1972 in west London, in a flat on the Queensway... Heather O'Neill Heather O'Neill Heather O'Neill is a Canadian novelist, poet, short story writer, screenwriter and journalist. She was born in Montreal, but spent part of her childhood in the American South. She currently lives in Montreal.... Patricia Wood	This was Tremain's 14th novel.
2009		Home Home (novel) Home is a novel written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Marilynne Robinson. Published in 2008, it is Robinson's third novel, preceded by Housekeeping in 1980 and Gilead in 2004....	Ellen Feldman Samantha Harvey Samantha Harvey Samantha Harvey is an author. She completed the Bath Spa Creative Writing MA course with distinction in 2005, and has also completed postgraduate courses in philosophy... Samantha Hunt Deirdre Madden Deirdre Madden Deirdre Madden is an author from Toomebridge, County Antrim in Northern Ireland. She was educated at St Mary's Grammar School, Trinity College, Dublin and at the University of East Anglia . In 1994 she was Writer-in-Residence at University College, Cork and in 1997 was Writer Fellow at Trinity... Kamila Shamsie Kamila Shamsie Kamila Shamsie is a Pakistani novelist who writes in the English language. She was brought up in Karachi and attended Karachi Grammar School....	Robinson's third novel in 28 years, Madden's second shortlisted nomination. Prize renamed "Orange Prize for Fiction"
2010		The Lacuna	Rosie Alison Attica Locke Hilary Mantel Hilary Mantel Hilary Mary Mantel CBE , née Thompson, is an English novelist, short story writer and critic. Her work, ranging in subject from personal memoir to historical fiction, has been short-listed for major literary awards... Lorrie Moore Lorrie Moore Lorrie Moore is an American fiction writer known mainly for her humorous and poignant short stories.-Biography:... Monique Roffey	Sixth novel by Kingsolver.
2011		The Tiger's Wife The Tiger's Wife The Tiger's Wife is the first novel by Téa Obreht, a Belgrade-born novelist of Bosniak/Slovene origin who currently lives in the United States.-Story:...	Kathleen Winter Kathleen Winter Kathleen Winter is a Canadian short story writer and novelist.Born in Bill Quay, near Gateshead in the north of England and raised in Newfoundland and Labrador, Winter began her career as a script writer for Sesame Street before becoming a columnist for The Telegram in St. John's... Aminatta Forna Aminatta Forna Aminatta Forna is a British writer of Sierra Leonean and Scottish heritage. She is the author of a memoir, The Devil that Danced on the Water and two novels, Ancestor Stones and The Memory of Love... Emma Henderson Emma Donoghue Emma Donoghue Emma Donoghue is an Irish-born playwright, literary historian and novelist now living in Canada. Her 2010 novel Room was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and an international bestseller. Donoghue's 1995 novel Hood won the Stonewall Book Award and Slammerkin won the Ferro-Grumley Award for... Nicole Krauss Nicole Krauss Nicole Krauss is an American author best known for her novels Man Walks Into a Room , The History of Love and, most recently, Great House...	Debut novel Debut novel A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future... by Obreht. At age 25 (at the time of the award) she was the youngest author to win to date.

External links

• Official Orange Prize website
• Shortlisted works for the Orange Prize