The British writer Samantha Harvey was rewarded this Tuesday by the booker’s pricethe most prestigious English fiction literature, thanks to her novel Orbital (Cornerstone, 2024), in which he recounts the conversations and thoughts of six astronauts on the International Space Station.
Harvey, who was surprised and excited after receiving the award, admitted to feeling “overwhelmed” by the magnitude of the prize.
“What we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves. This award is dedicated to those who speak for and not against the Earth.; and to those who speak in favor of and not against the dignity of others,” he said in his acceptance speech.
With her victory, Harvey becomes the first woman since 2019 to win the Booker, winning among six finalists, only one of whom was a man.
With its 136 pages, Orbital It is the second shortest book, after At seaby Penelope Fitzgerald, in 1979, to win this prize worth 50,000 pounds.
The novel explores the reflections on life on Earth of six astronauts on the International Space Station over 24 hours, during which they circled the planet 16 times.
During this period, they will have to face the death of a loved one, the arrival of a typhoon and the fragility of human life.
The president of the jury, writer and artist Edmund de Waal, explained that they were looking for a book that “had scale and resonance” and that they were “compelled to share”.
“Samantha Harvey has written a novel propelled by the beauty of 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets. Everyone and no one is the problemwhile six astronauts circle the Earth and observe the evolution of time across the fragility of borders and time zones,” said De Waal.
Harvey, who was already on the list of nominees for this award in 2009 with The desertthus becoming the nineteenth woman to win the Booker.
Other nominees in this edition, after last year the Irishman Paul Lynch won the prize with song of the prophet were Rachel Kushner, Anne Michaels either Percival Everett.
