Orange Prize for Fiction Long list announcement due tomorrow

16 March 2010

The tension, excitement and speculation mount as the date for the announcement of the Long list for the Orange Prize for fiction draws near. Entries closed on 27th November 2009 for books published between 1st April 2009 and 31st March 2010. This year's winner of the Orange Prize will receive £30,000, and a trophy. Last year's winner was the american author, Marilyn Robinson, for her novel, Home.

The Judges
The Chair of the Judges, Daisy Goodwin is looking forward to her role because not only has she published her own book, she is an avid reader of long books, and is looking forward to reading lots of books written by other women. Other judges include: Miranda Sawyer, who is looking forward to the indulgence of reading, and not having to make excuses for it; Alexandra Shulman is relishing the experience of reading books by authors that she would not traditionally opt for; Michelle Roberts is preparing herself for a daily dose of decadence by disregarding her educators (nuns from the convent school), who suggested that reading novels was sinful;  Rabbi Julia Neuberger is really excited by the prospect of having meetings to discuss and argue the merits and drawbacks of the material with the other judges, who she considers, in the nicest possible way, are a highly opinionated bunch of women.

The Orange Prize Entries
The entries are restricted to full length novels published by women in the UK in the previous year that have been submitted by the books publishers or have been called in by the judging panel. Novels must be longer than 30,000 words. A separate award for New Writers looks to commend new talented writers, and accepts all works of fiction, including novellas and short stories, as long as they were published in the UK.

Look out here on at Find-book, where we will announce the long list for the 2010 prize as soon as it is available.