Wednesday, May 23, 2012

A Lost Inclination and a Lost Sponsor



I have lost the inclination to read anything today. It happens.

And, I understand that the Orange Prize has lost its sponsor of seventeen years. Its sponsor being Orange. I thought that the name was just another institute, foundation, charity, etc. that had corralled a color. You know, like breast cancer and pink, honor our troops and yellow, or blue and child abuse prevention.

I stand corrected. Orange is the British mobile and broadband company.

The Orange Prize is the annual book award for fiction written by a woman,

This year's winner will be announced on May 30. The ceremony will take place in the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre. The winner receives £30,000 which is a hefty sum. About $47,000 in U.S. dollars.

Here is the shortlist of nominees:


Esi EdugyanHalf Blood BluesSerpent’s TailCanadian2nd Novel
Anne EnrightThe ForgottenWaltz Jonathan Cape Irish5th Novel
Georgina HardingPainter of SilenceBloomsburyBritish 3rd Novel
Madeline Miller The Song of AchillesBloomsburyAmerican1st Novel
Cynthia OzickForeign BodiesAtlantic BooksAmerican 7th Novel
Ann PatchettState of WonderBloomsburyAmerican6th Novel

The reason I am interested is because I actually read State of Wonder and visited Ann Patchett's bookstore, Parnassus, this month. I have not read any of the other books. Nor have I read any of the books on the long list. Nor have I read any of the books of past winners.

Am I missing something?

If you are interested, there are brief synopses of each of the six finalists' books at the website: www.orangeprize.co.uk




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