Tuesday, March 18, 2008

2008 Orange Prize longlist out. . .


The longlist for the 2008 Orange Prize is out. I always look forward to this list because it usually features a lovely mix of established writers and new debuts, with a good international representation. Plus Canadian writers usually do quite well by it and every year that I've been following the prize, I inevitably am introduced to a fantastic new writer. This year, I'm intrigued by The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam by Lauren Liebenberg. Nice to see some former and current Dewey picks on the list as well. Thrilled also to see The Outcast by Sadie Jones - a real emotional rollarcoaster of a read, but an incredibly written first novel. My money is on this book to win! The shortlist will be announced on April 15th, and the winner on June 4th.

You can read more about the prize here. And here's the longlist:

Anita Amirrezvani, The Blood of Flowers
Stella Duffy, The Room of Lost Things
Jennifer Egan, The Keep
Anne Enright, The Gathering
Linda Grant, The Clothes on Their Backs
Tessa Hadley, The Master Bedroom
Nancy Huston, Fault Lines
Gail Jones, Sorry
Sadie Jones, The Outcast
Lauren Liebenberg, The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam
Charlotte Mendelson, When We Were Bad
Deborah Moggach, In The Dark
Anita Nair, Mistress
Elif Shafak, The Bastard of Istanbul
Dalia Sofer, The Septembers of Shiraz
Scarlett Thomas, The End of Mr Y
Carol Topolski, Monster Love
Rose Tremain, The Road Home
Patricia Wood, Lottery

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