ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION ANNOUNCES 2012 LONGLIST

Orange Prize for Fiction shortlist announcement: 17 April
Orange Prize for Fiction shortlist readings: 29 May
Awards ceremony: 30 May
The Orange Prize for Fiction, the UK’s only annual book award for fiction written by a woman, today announces the 2012 longlist. Now in its seventeenth year, the Prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing throughout the world. The announcement coincides with International Women’s Day 2012.
Author             Title Publisher Nationality
 Karin Altenberg       Island of Wings Quercus Swedish 1st Novel
Aifric Campbell On the Floor Serpent’s Tail Irish 3rd Novel
Leah Hager Cohen The Grief of Others The Clerkenwell Press American 4th Novel
Emma Donoghue The Sealed Letter Picador Irish 7th Novel
Esi Edugyan Half Blood Blues Serpent’s Tail Canadian 2nd Novel
Anne Enright   The Forgotten Waltz Jonathan Cape Irish 5th Novel
Roopa Farooki   The Flying Man Headline Review British 5th Novel
Jaimy Gordon Lord of Misrule Quercus American 4th Novel
Georgina Harding Painter of Silence Bloomsbury British 3rd Novel
Jane Harris Gillespie and I Faber & Faber British 2nd Novel
Francesca Kay The Translation of the Bones Weidenfeld & Nicolson British 2nd Novel
A.L. Kennedy   The Blue Book Jonathan Cape British 6th Novel
Erin Morgenstern The Night Circus Harvill Secker American 1st Novel
Madeline Miller   The Song of Achilles Bloomsbury American 1st Novel
Cynthia Ozick Foreign Bodies Atlantic Books American 7th Novel
Ann Patchett   State of Wonder Bloomsbury American 6th Novel
Ali Smith   There but for the Hamish Hamilton British 5th Novel
Anna Stothard   The Pink Hotel Alma Books British 2nd Novel
Stella Tillyard Tides of War Chatto & Windus British 1st Novel
Amy Waldman William   The Submission Heinemann American 1st Novel

The judges for the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction are:
Joanna Trollope, (Chair), Writer
Lisa Appignanesi, Writer, Novelist and Broadcaster
Victoria Derbyshire, Journalist and Broadcaster
Natalie Haynes, Writer and Broadcaster
Natasha Kaplinsky, Broadcaster

“I am very proud of this year’s Orange longlist,” commented Joanna Trollope, Chair of Judges. “It not only demonstrates the judges’ eye for quality, but is also evidence of the breadth of subject matter, and individuality of voice, in women’s writing today.”
She continues, “We were looking for excellence, accessibility and originality, and we found all three, over and over. I congratulate the twenty chosen writers warmly.”
The Prize was set up in 1996 to celebrate and promote international fiction by women throughout the world to the widest range of readers possible and is awarded for the best novel of the year written by a woman in the English language.
Stuart Jackson, Communications Director at Orange said, “This year’s judges have selected a terrific longlist which showcases the exceptional diversity and quality of international women’s fiction available to readers today.”
This year’s longlist honours both new and well-established writers, featuring five first novels alongside a previous Orange Prize winner, Ann Patchett, who is longlisted for her sixth novel, and previous Orange Award for New Writers winner, Francesca Kay, longlisted for her second novel. Three authors appearing on this year’s list have previously been longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, and a further four authors have been previously shortlisted.
Any woman writing in English, whatever her nationality, country of residence, age or subject matter, is eligible. The winner will receive a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze known as a ‘Bessie’, created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven. Both are anonymously endowed.
The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held in The Ballroom at the Royal Festival Hall on 30 May 2012.
Previous winners are Téa Obreht for The Tiger’s Wife (2011), Barbara Kingsolver for The Lacuna (2010), Marilynne Robinson for Home (2009), Rose Tremain for The Road Home (2008), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for Half of a Yellow Sun (2007), Zadie Smith for On Beauty (2006), Lionel Shriver for We Need to Talk About Kevin (2005), Andrea Levy for Small Island (2004), Valerie Martin for Property (2003), Ann Patchett for Bel Canto (2002), Kate Grenville for The Idea of Perfection (2001), Linda Grant for When I Lived in Modern Times (2000), Suzanne Berne for A Crime in the Neighbourhood (1999), Carol Shields for Larry’s Party (1998), Anne Michaels for Fugitive Pieces (1997), and Helen Dunmore for A Spell of Winter (1996).
www.orangeprize.co.uk
ENDS
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For more information or to speak to the 2012 Chair of Judges, Joanna Trollope, please contact:
Press Enquiries
Amanda Johnson at M&C Saatchi:
Tel: 020 7544 3872 or 07715 922 180
Email: amanda.johnson@mcsaatchi.com

Notes to Editors
* This year’s list carries eight British authors, seven American authors, three Irish authors, one Swedish author and one Canadian author.
* The following author has previously won the Orange Prize for Fiction: Ann Patchett (2002)
* The following authors have previously been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction: Emma Donoghue (2011), Jane Harris (2007), Ann Patchett (1998) and Ali Smith (2006, 2001).
* The following authors have previously been longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction: Roopa Farooki (2010), Anne Enright (2008) and A.L Kennedy (2000, 1996).
* The following author has previously won the Orange Award for New Writers: Francesca Kay (2009).
* The following author has previously been shortlisted for the Orange Award for New Writers: Roopa Farooki (2007).
* There are five first novels on the 2012 longlist.

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