British writer Samantha Harvey won the prestigious Booker Prize on Tuesday for her science fiction novel, which follows six astronauts as they orbit Earth for 24 hours.
Set aboard the International Space Station, Harvey’s “Orbital” tracks two men and four women from Japan, Russia, the United States, Britain, and Italy as they observe and reflect on their home planet, touching on mourning, desire, and the climate crisis.
Since its creation in 1969, The Booker, which comes with a 50,000 pound ($64,000) cash prize, has launched careers and courted controversy.
Past laureates include Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan, Julian Barnes, and Kazuo Ishiguro.
“I was not expecting that,” Harvey said upon learning of her win, the first by a woman since Atwood was recognised for “The Testaments” alongside Bernardine Evaristo’s “Girl, Woman, Other”, adding she was “overwhelmed”.
In her acceptance speech, Harvey dedicated the prize to “everybody who speaks for and not against the Earth; for and not against the dignity of other humans, other life; and all the humans who speak for and call for and work for peace.”
AFP
