British writer Samantha Harvey was awarded the prestigious Booker Prize for her novel Orbital.
This novel presents a story of six astronauts who come to Earth from the International Space Station. At just 136 pages, Orbital is the second-shortest novel to ever win the Booker and the first set in space, according to the Booker Prize Foundation.
This year’s Booker shortlist featured a record five women nominees. Alongside Harvey were Anne Michaels for Held, Rachel Kushner for Creation Lake, Charlotte Wood for Stone Yard Devotional and Yael van der Wouden for The Safekeep.
The Booker Prize includes a $64,000 cash award. This platform has been an influential literary honor since 1969, helping to launch careers. Previous winners list include renowned authors such as Kazuo Ishiguro Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan and Julian Barnes.
This year British Samantha Harvey won the award. After receiving this award Harvey said that she was not expecting this win.
It is pertinent to note that this win of Harvey marked the first win by a woman since 2019.
Harvey dedicated this award to everyone who stands up for the Earth. “I present this award to everyone who supports the dignity of all people and other living things, and works for peace”, Harvey said.
Edmund de Waal, senior judge of this event, said that Orbital is “a book about a wounded world†with “everyone and no oneâ€.
