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Ondaatje prize picks six

20.03.08 Anna Richardson

Orlando Figes and Nicola Barker are among the authors nominated for this year's Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize.

The society revealed a shortlist of six for the £10,000 prize, which is awarded to a book "of the highest literary merit" in fiction, non-fiction or poetry that best evokes the spirit of a place.

The shortlist comprises Figes' The Whisperers (Allen Lane), Barker's Darmkans (Fourth Estate), Robert Carver's Paradise with Serpents (HarperPerennial), Rachel Lichtenstein's On Brick Lane (Hamish Hamilton), Robert Minhinnick's Sea Holly (Seren) and Graham Robb's The Discovery of France (Picador). 

The judges--Russell Celyn Jones, Elaine Feinstein and Romesh Gunesekera--said: "We read books that were brave, that had heart, that were written with some passion and published because they should be. The best of them, where the spirit of a place was significant, whether expressed through character or setting, quickly reached our shortlist. Paraguay, London’s East End, Wales, Kent, Russia and France are represented. Naturally, no book, however enjoyable, could find a place on this list without considerable literary merit."

The winner will be announced on 28th April.

Anna Richardson Prize Royal Society of Literature

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