Orange Prize for Fiction announces 2010 longlist

The Orange Prize for Fiction, an annual UK book prize awarded to a woman of any nationality, announced its 2010 longlist on March 17. The jury's picks include titles by previous Orange Prize and Orange Best of the Best winner Andrea Levy, 2009 Man Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel, and author from the United States, Morocco, and New Zealand.

Among titles on the shortlist are Andrea Levy's The Long Song, Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, Sadie Jones's Small Wars, and Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna. Debut novels on the list include Laila Lalami's Secret Son, Nadifa Mohamed's Black Mamba Boy, Amy Sackville's The Still Point, and Kathryn Stockett's The Help.

Daisy Goodwin, Chair of Judges, called the selection "a muscular, original and pleasurable longlist that will appeal to all kinds of readers." In an interview with The Guardian published March 17, Goodwin also voiced criticism of the 129 entries the jury received. "There's not been much wit and not much joy, there's a lot of grimness out there. There are a lot of books about Asian sisters. There are a lot of books that start with a rape. Pleasure seems to have become a rather neglected element in publishing."

2010 Orange Prize for Fiction longlist:

Rosie Alison: The Very Thought of You (UK)
Eleanor Catton: The Rehearsal (New Zealand)
Clare Clark: Savage Lands (UK)
Amanda Craig: Hearts and Minds (UK)
Roopa Farooki: The Way Things Look to Me (UK)
Rebecca Gowers: The Twisted Heart (UK)
M.J. Hyland: This is How (UK)
Sadie Jones: Small Wars (UK)
Barbara Kingsolver: The Lacuna (US)
Laila Lalami: Secret Son (Morocco)
Andrea Levy: The Long Song (UK)
Attica Locke: Black Water Rising (US)
Maria McCann: The Wilding (UK)
Hilary Mantel: Wolf Hall (UK)
Nadifa Mohamed: Black Mamba Boy (UK)
Lorrie Moore: A Gate at the Stairs (UK)
Monique Roffey: The White Woman on the Green Bicycle (Spain/UK)
Amy Sackville: The Still Point (UK)
Kathryn Stockett: The Help (US)
Sarah Waters: The Little Stranger (UK)

The Orange Prize for Fiction, founded in 1996, is awarded to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English. The award is often grouped with the Costa Book Award and the Man Booker Prize as part of the trinity of major UK book awards. Recent winners have included Marilynne Robinson for Home (2009), Rose Tremain for The Road Home (2008), and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for Half of a Yellow Sun (2007).

A shortlist will be announced on April 20, and the winner will be announced in London on June 9. The winner will receive a check for £30,000 and a bronze known as a 'Bessie', created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven.

http://www.orangeprize.co.uk