The Orange Prize has become one of my favorite literary awards. One that I follow closely, as it "celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women's writing from throughout the world".
The Guardian quotes judge Susana Reid who says, "There is a scope to this list. If anyone has a preconception about what a woman writes about, or what a woman's novel is, I think that this will blow it away. These novels cross continents, cross generations, cross decades, and there is no subject that these writers are not willing to tackle."
The 2011 longlist is as follows:
Leila Aboulela - Lyrics Alley
Carol Birch - Jamrach's Menagerie
Emma Donoghue - Room
Tishani Doshi - The Pleasure Seekers
Louise Doughty - Whatever You Love
Jennifer Egan - A Visit from the Goon Squad
Aminatta Forna - The Memory of Love
Tessa Hadley - The London Train
Emma Henderson - Grace Williams Says it Loud
Samantha Hunt - The Seas
Joanna Kavenna - The Birth of Love
Nicole Krauss - Great House
Wendy Law-Yone - The Road to Wanting
Téa Obreht - The Tiger's Wife
Julie Orringer - The Invisible Bridge
Anne Peile - Repeat it Today with Tears
Karen Russell - Swamplandia!
Lola Shoneyin - The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives
Roma Tearne - The Swimmer
Kathleen Winter - Annabel
Awesome! I love the Orange Prize too. Thanks for posting this, much appreciated. I think I need to catch up on some reading - I've only read Room so far.
ReplyDeleteThere are several on this list I'd like to try :) Thanks for bringing my attention to this award!!!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of this list before so thanks for sharing! And making me realize I don't know nearly enough female authors, since I only recognize a couple books off that list.
ReplyDeleteGreat quotation provided - I agree wholeheartedly. These women are incredible. I'm really looking forward to buckling down and reading as many as I can. I just realized I have two previous winning titles on my shelf to be read, right now. Great post!
ReplyDeleteKathmeista, Me too.
ReplyDeletePeppermint, I want to read a few of them too.
Red, I don't recognize all of them either.
Beth, Full disclorsure: I haven't read any and I don't own any. But that's why I love this award - I always end up buying a few and reading them.
I'm really interested in the books by writers outside of the U.S. And like you mentioned on Beth's blog, I also hope Room doesn't win.
ReplyDeleteeatthebooks, I felt bad saying it because I havne't read it, but I feel like Room and Freedom were the top two books I heard about in 2010. Anyway, I'm also interested in writers outside the US. I made a little list of books I want to buy and they all consist of non-American authors - Jamrach's Menagerie, The Birth of Love and The Secret Lives of Baba Sigls' Wife.
ReplyDeleteI also blogged about the longlist earlier, and then I went and picked up a copy of 'The Swimmer' and 'Grace Williams Says it Loud' from my local bookstore. I wanted to get 'The Seas' too, but it wasn't in stock.
ReplyDeleteDid you see the blog on the Vintage Books website by one of the judges about the Prize? It's an interesting read, anyway...
I always love reading as many of these books as possible. I find they really stretch my boundaries. Having only read two of these so far, I'm looking forward to reading some more!
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