The Poor Player: The Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction

Trying to find a good read nowadays is a veritable jungle of old and new fiction and, therefore, it is always helpful to look for certain marks of quality to ensure success. These marks can be the praise of critics whose taste you share, magazines that take literature seriously and that review the kinds of books you are looking for. Another sign of quality is awards the novel has been given. But, there are a gazillion awards out there and they might not all suit your literary taste. This is one of my personal favourites: The Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction!

It was created in 1992 to bring attention to women's work in particular. Women of any nationality who have written novels in English are eligible for the award (a statuette called the Bessie and £30,000!) and the panel of judges consists of five "high-profile" women, newly selected by Orange each year. Below, I will list the last ten winners with a brief comment for each one!

2007: Chimamanda Ngosi Adichie - Half A Yellow Sun - Haven't read it. Yet!
2006: Zadie Smith - On Beauty - Liked it!
2005: Lionel Shriver - We Need to Talk About Kevin - Was quite taken by it!
2004: Andrea Levy - Small Island - Liked it!
2003: Valerie Martin - Property - Haven't read it.
2002: Ann Patchett - Bel Canto - Haven't read it.
2001: Margaret Atwood - Blind Assasin - Really good!
2000: Linda Grant - When I Lived in Modern Times - Haven't read it.
1999: Suzanne Berne - A Crime in the Neighborhood - Really good!
1998: Carol Shields - Larry's Party - Think I read it...