Three US women contest Orange fiction prize

Three U.S. authors were nominated on Tuesday, April 20 for the Orange Prize for Fiction which honours women writers. Barbara Kingsolver (The Lacuna), Attica Locke (Black Water Rising) and Lorrie Moore (A Gate at the Stairs) are on the shortlist for the annual award, now in its 15th year.

They are up against Britons Rosie Alison (The Very Thought of You) and Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel, whose historical novel about the court of Henry VIII, Wolf Hall, is up for another prestigious award.
Completing the six-strong list is Monique Roffey, of British and Trinidadian descent, with The White Woman on the Green Bicycle.

This shortlist achieves the near impossible of combining literary merit with sheer readability, said Daisy Goodwin, chair of the judging panel. With a thriller, historical novels that reflect our world back to us, as well as a tragicomedy about post 9/11 America, there is something here to challenge, amuse and enthral every kind of reader. Two of the six nominees are first-time novelists - Alison and Locke.

The prize was set up in 1996 to celebrate and promote fiction by women and is awarded for the best novel of the year written by a woman. The winner, who will be announced on June 9, will receive a cheque for 30,000 pounds ($46,000).

Full report here Reuters