LONDON (AP) 鈥� British writer Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with 鈥淥rbital,鈥� a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International Space Station that ponders the beauty and fragility of Earth.
Harvey was awarded the 50,000-pound ($64,000) prize for what she has called a 鈥渟pace pastoral鈥� about six orbiting astronauts, which she began writing during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The confined characters loop through 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets over the course of a day, trapped in one another鈥檚 company and transfixed by the globe鈥檚 ever-changing vistas.
鈥淭o look at the Earth from space is like a child looking into a mirror and realizing for the first time that the person in the mirror is herself," said Harvey, who researched her novel by reading books by astronauts and watching the space station's live camera. "What we do to the Earth we do to ourselves.鈥�
She said the novel 鈥渋s not exactly about climate change, but implied in the view of the Earth is the fact of human-made climate change."
She dedicated the prize to everyone who speaks "for and not against the Earth, for and not against the dignity of other humans, other life."
鈥淎ll the people who speak for and call for and work for peace 鈥� this is for you,鈥� she said.
Writer and artist Edmund de Waal, who chaired the five-member judging panel, called 鈥淥rbital鈥� a 鈥渕iraculous novel鈥� that 鈥渕akes our world strange and new for us.鈥�
Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, noted that 鈥渋n a year of geopolitical crisis, likely to be the warmest year in recorded history,鈥� the winning book was 鈥渉opeful, timely and timeless.鈥�
Harvey, who has written four previous novels and a memoir about insomnia, is the first British writer since 2020 to win the Booker. The prize is open to English-language writers of any nationality and has a reputation for transforming writers鈥� careers. Previous winners include Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Hilary Mantel.
De Waal praised the 鈥渃rystalline鈥� writing and 鈥渃apaciousness鈥� of Harvey鈥檚 succinct novel 鈥� at 136 pages in its U.K. paperback edition, one of the shortest-ever Booker winners.
鈥淭his is a book that repays slow reading,鈥� he said.
He said the judges spent a full day picking their winner and came to a unanimous conclusion. Harvey beat five other finalists from Canada, the United States, Australia and the Netherlands, chosen from among 156 novels submitted by publishers.
American writer Percival Everett had been the bookies鈥� favorite to win with 鈥淛ames,鈥� which reimagines Mark Twain鈥檚 鈥淗uckleberry Finn鈥� from the point of view of its main Black character, the enslaved man Jim.
The other finalists were American writer Rachel Kushner鈥檚 spy story 鈥淐reation Lake鈥�; Canadian Anne Michaels鈥� poetic novel 鈥淗eld鈥�; Charlotte Wood鈥檚 Australian saga 鈥淪tone Yard Devotional鈥�; and 鈥淭he Safekeep鈥� by Yael van der Wouden, the first Dutch author to be shortlisted for the Booker.
Harvey is the first female Booker winner since 2019, though one of five women on this year鈥檚 shortlist, the largest number in the prize鈥檚 55-year history. De Waal said issues such as the gender or nationality of the authors were 鈥渂ackground noise鈥� that did not influence the judges.
鈥淭here was absolutely no question of box ticking or of agendas or of anything else. It was simply about the novel,鈥� he said before the awards ceremony at Old Billingsgate, a grand former Victorian fish market in central London.
Founded in 1969, the Booker Prize is open to novels originally written in English published in the U.K. or Ireland. Last year鈥檚 winner was Irish writer Paul Lynch for post-democratic dystopia 鈥淧rophet Song.鈥�
Lynch handed Harvey her Booker trophy at the ceremony, warning her that her life was about to change dramatically because of the Booker publicity boost.
Harvey said she was 鈥渙verwhelmed," but remained down-to-earth about spending her prize money.
She said she'd disburse 鈥渟ome of it on tax. I want to buy a new bike. And then the rest 鈥� I want to go to Japan.鈥�
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
