British author Samantha Harvey wins Booker with space story

Samantha Harvey, a talented British author, has made history by winning the prestigious 2024 Booker Prize for her remarkable novel titled Orbital. This is a significant achievement as it marks the first time a book set in space has ever won this esteemed award. The story of Orbital takes readers on a journey through the eyes of a team of astronauts aboard the International Space Station, offering a unique perspective on our world. The book has become the best-selling title on the shortlist in the UK, even surpassing the combined sales of the last three Booker Prize winners before the announcement of this year's winner. Samantha Harvey is also notable for being the first woman to win the Booker Prize since 2019. The announcement of her victory was made during a grand ceremony held at London's Old Billingsgate, where she was awarded a cash prize of £50,000. In her acceptance speech, she dedicated the award to 'all the people who speak for and not against the Earth and work for and not against peace. ' While writing Orbital, Harvey faced moments of self-doubt, questioning whether anyone would be interested in a woman's perspective on space exploration. She expressed her feelings by saying, 'I lost my nerve with it and I thought I didn't have the authority to write it. ' When she learned that she had won the award, she described her emotions as being in 'complete shock and very overwhelmed. ' She acknowledged that this recognition would significantly change her life. When asked how she planned to use the £50,000 prize money, she humorously replied, 'I need to buy myself a new bike, and it's going to be a good bike. ' The chair of the judging panel, Edmund de Waal, praised Orbital as a 'book about a wounded world. ' He highlighted the judges' appreciation for its 'beauty and ambition' and commended Harvey's 'language of lyricism. ' Harvey herself described her writing process, stating that she envisioned the book as a 'space pastoral,' akin to nature writing that captures the beauty of the cosmos. The novel spans 136 pages and is her fifth published work. It unfolds over a single day in the lives of six astronauts and cosmonauts, during which they witness 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets as they orbit the Earth. The narrative allows readers to experience the breathtaking sights of glaciers, deserts, mountains, and oceans from a unique vantage point. Notably, this book is the second-shortest to win the Booker Prize, covering the briefest timeframe of any shortlisted work. The record for the shortest winning novel remains with Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald, which consists of 132 pages. Harvey has previously shared that she wrote Orbital during the challenging times of successive lockdowns. She reflected on the experience, saying, 'I was writing about six people trapped in a tin can. It felt like there was something resonant about that and our experience of lockdown, of not being able to escape each other and also not being able to get to other people. ' In 2009, she was also recognized on the longlist for the Booker Prize with her debut novel, The Wilderness. This year's shortlist featured an impressive representation of female authors, with five women among the six nominees, marking the largest number of women in the prize's 55-year history. The other shortlisted authors included Percival Everett from the United States, Rachel Kushner from the United States, Anne Michaels from Canada, Yael van der Wouden from the Netherlands, and Charlotte Wood from Australia. The Booker Prize is a highly respected award that honors works of fiction written in English by authors from around the globe, provided their books are published in the UK or Ireland. Previous winners of this prestigious award include renowned authors such as Margaret Atwood, Hilary Mantel, Bernardine Evaristo, and Salman Rushdie.