The Bookseller.com

20th November 2008

Is the time up for Orange?

06.06.08

Has the time come to end the Orange Prize, asks the Independent. Some think so, it notes: "That limiting the prize to women writers is unfair and anachronistic, according to its most recent critics. The latest round of debate was kicked off in March by the writer Tim Lott, who called the prize 'a sexist con-trick'." But others don't: "The novelist Kate Mosse, who co-founded the prize, said: 'The prize was set up to celebrate international fiction written by women and to get fabulous books by women to male and female readers and it continues to be really successful in doing that.'"

But, as the Independent reports, part of its raison d'être was to encourage women's writing at a time when it seemed to be largely ignored by the larger prizes. However, five of the last six Whitbread/ Costas and the latest Man Booker prize were won by women.

The piece did not pick up the figures reported on theBookseller.com yesterday that this year's shortlisted titles have sold one-tenth of the number sold in previous years. As The Bookseller's charts editor Phil Stone blogged yesterday: To date, total sales of all six nominees, in part due to the fact that three of them are débuts, stand at just 37,905 copies. This figure is almost ten times lower than last year's set of six which enjoyed total sales of over 360,000 by the eve of the announcement. The figure was 335,000 in 2006. What gives?

Independent

Prizes Orange Prize Rose Tremain

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