Now in its eighteenth year, the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2013 was set up to celebrate excellence, originality and accessibility in writing by women throughout the world.
Known from 1996 to 2012 as the Orange Prize for Fiction, it is the UK’s most prestigious annual book award for fiction written by a woman and also provides a range of educational, literacy or research initiatives to support reading and writing.
The judges for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2013 have been confirmed as:
* Miranda Richardson, (Chair), Actor
* Razia Iqbal, BBC Broadcaster and Journalist
* Rachel Johnson, Author, Editor and Journalist
* JoJo Moyes, Author
* Natasha Walter, Feminist Writer and Human Rights Activist
“This is a new departure for me and I am honoured to be working with judges who combine fine minds with, I suspect, great good humour,” commented Miranda Richardson. “I look forward to sharing with them the delights of finding new insights into our existence, through the unique voices of the women entering this year’s competition. It will be rigorous, and hopefully, fun. It is an exciting responsibility and I very much look forward to beginning the journey.”
Set up in 1996 to celebrate and promote international fiction by women throughout the world to the widest range of readers possible, the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2013 is awarded for the best novel of the year written by a woman. Any woman writing in English – whatever her nationality, country of residence, age or subject matter – is eligible.
The winner will receive a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze figurine known as a ‘Bessie’, created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven. Both are anonymously endowed. The Women’s Prize for Fiction 2013 will be awarded on June 5th at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London following a series of public events.
Known as the Orange Prize for Fiction between 1996 and 2012, previous winners include Helen Dunmore for A Spell of Winter (1996), Anne Michaels for Fugitive Pieces (1997), Carol Shields for Larry’s Party (1998), Suzanne Berne for A Crime in the Neighbourhood (1999), Linda Grant for When I Lived in Modern Times (2000), Kate Grenville for The Idea of Perfection (2001), Ann Patchett for Bel Canto (2002) Valerie Martin for Property (2003), Andrea Levy for Small Island (2004), Lionel Shriver for We Need to Talk about Kevin (2005), Zadie Smith for On Beauty (2006), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for Half of a Yellow Sun (2007), Rose Tremain for The Road Home (2008), Marilyn Robinson for Home (2009), Barbara Kingsolver for The Lacuna (2010), Téa Obreht for The Tiger’s Wife (2011) and Madeline Miller for The Song of Achilles (2012).
