P.S.

While reading Private Eye on the train home I came upon a piece about OPF. Brushing aside the usual complaints about the prize's 'reverse sexism', the article concentrated on evidence of ageism - pointing out that only 2 novelists over 60 have won (the late Carol Shields and Rose Tremain). 

"Bookworm" attributed this to the generally relatively youthful judging panel, and suggested that this year's panel, headed by 39 year old Fi Glover "have a chance to end the pattern of age discrimination by honouring an older woman for the second year running: America's Marilynne Robinson, like Tremain in her mid-60s [actually - she's 62: Ed] would be a classy contender"

Nuff said

And the winner is.....

What an evening that was! Less famous faces than in some previous years - though I did spot Kate Adie, Andrea Levy and Julie Myerson, among many others. With Sandeep Mahal of The Reading Agency and Angela Hickin of Hampshire Libraries I enjoyed a natter about the recent successes of Reading Partners - the libraries/publishers partnership in which we're all involved, as well as speculating on the potential winner.

The announcement of the winner was as exciting as always. First of all the Orange Award for New writers - Francesca Kay was awarded the prize by Chair of Judges Mishal Husain for her novel An Equal Stillness. She delivered a brief and heartfelt speech of thanks and led many of the audience to remind themselves to pay more attention to the OANW and catch up with their reading.

Kate Moss turned her attention to the Youth Panel, who the previous night had named Bernardine Evaristo as their winner. Showing remarkable insouciance for people currently involved in exams, several of the panel were clearly enjoying the ceremony and the praise heaped on them by Kate, who felt that the experiment had exceeded all her hopes, with the passion for the books, and the quality of debate which they demonstrated. And then . . . the main course.

After an introduction by the Chair of Judges - this year Fi Glover - each shortlisted author is called up and presented with a lavish bouquet, looks vaguely embarrassed/modest while the press do their worst, then she rejoins the other candidates to one side of the stage to await the announcement. As is usual, praise was then given to all the contenders, and the quality of the list remarked upon. The comments then made about the winner were suitably generalised to make any result possible... "it's Ellen Feldman - no, it's one of the ones I haven't read!..." before it all became clear:

"This year's Orange prize winner has a luminous quality to it that has drawn all of the judges to a unanimous decision. The profound nature of the writing stood out, as has the ability of the writer to draw the reader into a world of hope,expectation, misunderstanding, love and kindness"

It could be none other - Marilynne Robinson! A gracious thanks and generous acknowledgement of her fellow short listers, then a huge sigh of relief from Kate Moss, who had brought the whole event in on time and the party began. I was able to have a few words with Marilynne Robinson herself - who in person was as measured and gentle as her prose, and still clutching her bouquet.Though I'm sure she would have agreed, it would have been crass (if tempting) to ask to have a photograph taken with her - so I made do with a sign-off picture of "Librarian and Fan in front of huge mock-up of winning book".

OPF over for another year - we'll be back next year, with what already promises to be a vinage prize .... Sarah Waters and Hilary Mantel, for starters, and who can tell what wonderful new authors we'll discover.

Pre-match nerves

 Readying myself to take the train to London (on a day like this it has to be the lovely Waterloo line from Honiton) for this evening's OPF Award ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall. It's always a great evening, carried off in a style those of us in libraries can only dream of. It's touching that authors who can command this sort of attention for their work - great venue, good champagne, mesmerising canapes and hordes of press photographers crouching at the foot of the stage - are often also prepared to come to do an event in a library .... with a glass of indifferent wine (if they're lucky - otherwise a cup of tea) and a space created by staff heaving aside the book shelves, borrowing extra chairs from the scout hut and maybe - if there's nothing else going on - a visit in the middle of their talk from a youth from the local paper.

Half joking, really - in fact we've come on a long way in recent years, and many libraries are new or re-furbished. Here in Devon we have had new libraries  - The Ivybridge Watermark, South Molton, and Princetown - open within the last couple of years, and have  an ambitious modernisation programme under way. But still, all across the country enthusiastic and passionate staff are willing to ignore the drawbacks of their surroundings and invite authors in - and they come.

The excitement is tinged as always by a vague feeling of guilt at not having read all the list - and the possibility that the winner and her work will be unknown to me. That's more than compensated for by the fact that - should she make the trip - I could be in the same room and get to hear the author of Gilead, among many other potential joys! I'm not sure if Bernardine Evaristo will also make an appearance. Her book Blonde Roots was chosen last night as the winner by the Youth Panel, who have been shadowing the prize. Made up of 3 males, 3 females and all aged between 16-19, they showed an independence of spirit early on, when their shortlist failed to match that of the official panel in every particular! More information on this on the Orange Prize website.

The bookies favourite is currently Ellen Feldman for Scottsboro - and I shouldn't be sad about that. 

So - off we go, and with a bit of luck my next blog will read more like a gossip column....

...........

How do all you bloggers make time to do this regularly? I went to a couple of events last week and was keen to share news of them, but what with the County Show, cricket, and a first-of-the-season-and-possibly-last-too barbecue - well, here we are a week later.

Perhaps what added an extra flavour to these events was the fact that they happened on the same day. First off was Lost in a Box, by students from Exeter University, as part of their final degree assessment. I had circulated news of the free event to reading groups, and decided to swell the number by attending myself. Having held many -and varied- literary events in the Music Room at Exeter Central, I was intrigued to see what a difference it made to have new eyes setting up. The curtains were drawn against the afternoon sun, the audience was seated on and in front of the stage, and the main body of the room was the performance area. What followed was impressive and moving (I hope the lecturer next to me who made notes throughout felt the same) as the story unfolded. Essentially an elegy on coming to terms with loss - but hard to justify in a blog ostensibly about the Orange Prize .... except that each "chapter" in the drama was signalled by turning a page in a giant book which was a Penguin book with an orange cover. Talk about Chris's Top Tenuous.....
The second event was a talk by Deborah Moggach as part of Exeter University's Creative Writing Programme. I knew her to be an interesting and vivacious speaker from her appearance at the last Devon Readers' Day at the Watermark, Ivybridge. On this occasion she spoke about her experience of writing screenplays, particularly for the film of Pride and Prejudice and the recent BBC television series on The Diary of Anne Frank - what she called "turning the 'noun' of a novel into the 'verb' of a film". It was fascinating to hear her take on it - how she reads and absorbs the novel, then puts it away and doesn't refer to it. She insisted that what was needed was for a screenplay writer to be "bold, but loving".While an author works alone, with some input from an editor, the sreenwriter is involved in a collaborative experience. Having worked on the screenplay, the writer hands it over to producer/director/actors. The tale doesn't end there, because the acting team works on it and then hands on to editors, who set about creating their vision. One of the main difficulties in changing a book into a film lies in dealing with the internal dialogue which gives a reader so many clues (without surrendering to voice-overs). Deborah maintained that this was where the actors came in, and that in this part of the filming process the internal dialogue, cut from the book by the screenwriter, reappears again in the actors' faces. Fascinating stuff- and greatly enjoyed by those members of reading groups who attended. No Orange connection there, not even a tenuous one, but thought-provoking. Interesting, too, to see how much thought and judgement went into deciding what to put in, what to leave out, where to put the emphasis. Made me realise that, while I'll generally give authors the benefit of the doubt and not condemn a book out of hand - just feel that maybe it's not for me - I can be as opinionated and instantly judgemental about a film as the next person.

Still wandering....

Oh dear, I seem to have meandered further still from my brief. The one I really can't justify Orange-wise is Liza Mundy's Michelle Obama. Having read Dreams From my Father earlier in the year I couldn't resist the Barnes and Noble display of Michelle-inspired books. Well, I could resist Michelle Obama, Mom-in-chief and Michelle Obama, First Lady of Fashion and Style but I did want to know a little more about her, and chose Mundy's book. She had interviewed Michelle extensively in the past, though not for the purposes of this book - clearly the First Lady's team was more cautious about letting her loose these days. It wasn't a great read, but it was informative, especially about her childhood and background. From this side of the Atlantic some of America's social problems can seem insoluble - millions without healthcare, murder rates of incomprehensible size - and yet a bright girl from the South Side of Chicago ("bright" hardly seems to cover it) becomes First Lady. I have thought of an Orange link too - as a student, Michelle Obama attended a meeting which was addressed by the last surviving Scottsboro Boy......
The other deviation can be justified in Orange terms, I think. I was so taken by The Flying Troutmans and sorry not to have come across Miriam Toews before. I added A Complicated Kindness to my pile and raised B and N's profits a little more. And since the avowed aim of OPF is to bring fine writing by women to all readers, it matters not a jot that this book goes back to 2005. What a treat! Nomi, a 16 year old rebel growing up in a strict Canadian Mennonite community sees through all the adult hypocrisy around her. This coming-of-age story is told in Nomi's own voice, dead-pan, over-casual at times, and brutally honest. The humour may be of a rather black sort, but there's joy too. Toews herself was brought up in just such a community - now there's an author I'd love to hear!

A small diversion.......

And such a long time away from the keyboard. Only excuse was a trip to Chicago, and an extremely s l o w internet connection in the b&b which would have made blogging an agonising business.A diversion, too, from my self-imposed Orange task, but one which I'm sure I can justify.
I was so moved by Home that I toddled off to the Barnes and Noble on the corner and bought another copy of Housekeeping, which I read years ago but was intrigued to try again. It was just as impressive second time around - such a remarkable book at the time for a first novel - but published too soon to be included in any OPF list. I still longed to reach out to the two sisters and steady them but of course it moved to its inevitable conclusion. Perhaps I read it a little differently with the 2 Gilead novels behind me, but it did seem a little less assured than her recent books. Still subtle and moving, however.

While walking past the same shop a day or two later, a "Chicago City Read" promotion caught my eye. Devon's "Lost World Read" is over now - a project we shared with authorities in the South West, Shropshire and Hampshire (a disparate group, who came together because of links to the Lost World author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, or to the man whose work helped inspire the book, and whose anniversary it was - Charles Darwin.) Always keen to support someone else's reading campaign, and pleased that Chicago libraries were partners in the exercise, I decided to join in. Not for them the piles of free copies given away in our promotion - I had to part with the $ equivalent of £7.99 for - rather a thin - book. Still, the bookmark and readers' guide came free.

The book was The House on Mango Street, and the other thing that had snagged my attention was the author - Sandra Cisneros. In one of those follow-the-links that keen readers love, I remembered reading Cisneros' Caramelo when it was long-listed for the Orange Prize in 2003. I worked in Exeter Central at the time. Budgets were tight and stock in short supply - but when we decided to shadow the Orange Prize we were rewarded with multiple, shiny new copies of the listed titles. The books were flying off the shelves - except for Caramelo.It was huge - much bigger than the rest - and the cover featured a lurid painting of a senorita in elaborate frock, mantilla and all. Leaving after work I had to take pity on the 4 hardback copies siting reproachfully and take one home with me. The story centred around a large, noisy Mexican family, now settled in an American city (I didn't remember which one..) who made an annual event-filled trip to visit family in Mexico City. I enjoyed it - but it didn't make the short-list. Now here she was again, this time with a little book, but one which is apparently required reading in many American schools, and celebrating its 25th birthday. It's a series of vignettes - some of them very short indeed - dealing with the story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago.To read more about it, or just see a picture of The Definitive Cowboy Boots, her website is www.sandracisneros.com

Ellen Feldman - Scottsboro

Well, not one whose cover screamed "read Me!!", and I confess I rather shied away from picking it up. I was aware of the story for many years, and saw a particularly harrowing programme on television a good few years ago. The case of the Scottsboro Boys is a true story of the arrest of 9 black youths (some really only boys) for the rape of 2 young white women on a train in Alabama in 1931- a crime of which they not only weren't guilty, but which never in fact happened. Their subsequent narrow escape from lynching leads on to a heart-breaking trail of mis-trial and injustice and the overwhelming feeling I had from the documentary was of the waste of so many years and lives, and the loathsome figures who wielded such power over others' lives. So - could I bear to go through it all again, knowing how it ends?
I'm glad I did. The story is told chiefly by Alice Whittier, a very modern young woman and a journalist.She reports on the outcry, both in other parts of the USA and abroad which kept the boys' story in the news and mitigated in some degree the vicious response from Alabama's law enforcers and residents. The other voice is that of Ruby Bates - worlds away from Alice in experiences and opportunities. Ruby as one of the "victims" is a chief witnes for the prosecution, until she dares to change her story and confess that the rape never happened.Other stories and personalities flesh out the story and the result is a powerful page-turner, well worth its place on the shortlist.

Burnt Shadows - a winner?

Several things recommended this book to me - a lovely cover, for one, in a line-up not noted for its jackets! In addition a couple of friends whose views I respect had spoken warmly of it, so - greater compliment has no librarian - I bought myself a copy (so as not to deprive Devon Library users of it, and half expecting I would want to re-read it).
The book begins in 2002 with a nameless prisoner, about to be taken to Guantanamo Bay. "How did it come to this?" he wonders. And that's the question Kamila Shamsie leads us through and around and towards. If I outline the main narrative events of the book -- Nagasaki 1945; Delhi 1947; New York 2001/2 -- it may sound obvious, perhaps rather clumsy....but the reality is very different. The sense of place is strong, and the beauty of the landscapes in which these terrible happenings occur is beautifully realised (including that of Afghanistan, which weaves in and out of the thread). It's a huge sweep of a book, but Shamsie never loses control of it - and within it the delicate details are beautifully drawn (and in my case at least, remembered).
I'm a gobbler of books that I like, but in this case I found myself, having thundered through the first 250 pages, slowing my pace - not because it was losing its grip, but because I could see that others, more ruthless than the characters I had come to "know" were driving us all towards a conclusion I wouldn't welcome. Highly recommended! A winner? Charlie Lee Potter, writing in the Independent just as Shadows was longlisted, certainly thought so.

Miriam Toews: The Flying Troutmans

I hadn't previously discovered Miriam Toews, but I'll certainly look out for her now - thanks, OPF!
The Troutman family is in trouble - Hattie is called back from Paris, where her own love affair is floundering, by a late-night call from her eleven year old neice, Thebes. Hattie's sister Min is sinking into another debilitating period of mental illness, and Thebes is worried about about her brother Logan, who's in trouble in school again. Hattie returns to Canada to care for them, but when Min is hospitalised and seems to want nothing to do with any members of her family, Hattie panics at the unasked-for responsibility of a fifteen year old boy who scarcely ever communicates and an eleven year old girl who never stops. She packs up and takes the children on a road-trip in search of their estranged father - a trip which takes them through the USA and into Mexico. Did I mention it was hilarious? Against the serious tableaux of the effects of long-term mental illness on a family, Toews brings the bohemian characters to life, dirt and all, and a joy they are. It may not be an Orange winner - but I recommend it!

SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED!

If you'd like to see what they are, have a look at the OPF website - www.orangeprize.co.uk
This is the downside of shadowing a literary prize - the moment at which the shortlist overtakes your reading and you're looking at the next book in the to-read pile and thinking - but isn't that one a bit of a loser? Yet if I look back on previous Orange prizes I can find ones that didn't make it from the longlist, but which still gave me pleasure - The Lovely Bones in 2003; Niagara Falls all over again and The Secret Life of Bees in 2002; and what about 1999, when Mantel's The Giant O'Brien didn't get onto the shortlist, and Kingsolver's masterly and still-loved Poisonwood Bible didn't win?
So - I'll still add my comments on the books I've enjoyed but which haven't got to the last 6 ... and try to get my hands on the remaining 3 which I haven't yet read!

Marilynne Robinson - HOME

Marilynne Robinson has emerged as one of the most respected of contemporary American novelists. Her first novel, Housekeeping, was well-received, but it was a further 20 years before she published, in 2004, her Pulitzer Prize winning Gilead. HOME takes place in the same period as Gilead. This time we hear Jack's story - the prodigal son of the family has come home after 20 years, seeking refuge from his present troubles and trying to make peace with his past. He find his father frail and elderly, yet still holding fiercely to his beliefs and values, and now being minded by Jack's sister Glory, herself a refugee from personal troubles and pain.
The narrative unwinds slowly, the writing is tender, and the simplest of acts and conversations are revealed as tortuous. I enjoyed it hugely, felt moved by the struggles of the family members to communicate with each other, and saddened when they failed to do so, when they judged and misunderstood each other. Readers of Gilead have the advantage over the characters in Home, and know things the characters can only speculate about. It stands alone a a novel - but for a real treat, read both books.

They're in!

All the longlisted titles have now arrived and are already flying off the shelves in the participating libraries. We'll learn on April 21st who's made it to the shortlist - but readers will continue to enjoy the titles which didn't make it, and debate among themselves how the judges could get it so wrong!

Lissa Evans: Their Finest Hour and a Half

Chosen – well, because it was there on the shelf. It’s a story set in 1940. France has fallen, bombs are falling on London, and the call goes out for a morale-boosting film (preferably one which will appeal to the American market). As in so many areas, it’s the ones left behind after all the talents have gone onto greater things who have to do their best to answer the call. Lissa Evans comes with good comic credentials, having been producer/director on classic TV comedy including Room 101, Father Ted and The Kumars before turning to fiction (this is her third book).

I didn’t like the title – sounded rather like a Robert Rankin – but warmed to the Acknowledgements (surely everybody reads those first?) which included not only librarians (always a plus point) but also the author of “How We Lived Then” which she claims awoke in her 13 year old self an abiding interest in the Home Front. On reading that, I immediately saw in my mind’s eye that series of books, crammed with line drawings – to be inspired by such modest works marks her out as Someone Worth Reading.
I wasn’t disappointed. Puzzled, perhaps. That made me think about reading for literary prizes, and how I sometimes find myself reading things a little differently from the way I read other books. It’s as if I’m responding on 2 levels – “am I enjoying/being moved/being challenged by this book?” but also “am I seeing what the judges saw in this book?”

But casting those inhibitions aside, what an enjoyable read. Lissa Evans has created a wonderful set of characters, from the cunning and self-delusional Ambrose Hilliard (imagine a slightly less louche Chuffer Dandridge) to Arthur, Special Military Advisor, and all too aware of his lack of credentials for the role. She somehow manages to pull off that very difficult trick of leading her readers to change their minds and alter their judgement about some characters – without making us feel manipulated.
Her filmic experience gives a real feeling of accuracy to the story of the making of Just an Ordinary Wednesday – and behind and around all the minor power struggles and irritations is the Blitz, dealt with in a matter of fact way which somehow makes it seem all the more real and chilling.
So – great characters, fine plotting, humour and pathos, and an ending worth waiting for.
Recommended!

The struggle....

The struggle with all literary prizes is to get the books to the reader. A title longlisted for OPF can be published any time from last April to - well, a couple of weeks ago - so examination of the list the day after the announcement can reveal some books no longer available in hardback (and not yet published in paperback) ... or some whose publication has been delayed... or some that we just didn't buy for stock in the first place. Last year was truly horribilis, with several titles never becoming available to us at all.
This year I'm feeling more optimistic - and as if to reward me for this unaccountable break with my true nature, the books are beginning to arrive! Not all 20 titles, but enough to be going on with. The staff at HQ who can turn promotions on a sixpence when asked, had the books unpacked in a flash - invoiced, prepared for use, formed into collections for the participating libraries and packed up and on the van heading for Exeter, Buckfastleigh, Ilfracombe and Kingsbridge.

Here we go Orange!

For some people it's the first cuckoo. For Ottery residents it used to be the first driver to wind down a window and ask for directions to Otter Nurseries - though global warming means that's a year-round feature now. For librarians it's the announcement of the Orange prize longlist.....

In 1992 a group of men and women involved in publishing - journalists, reviewers, agents, publishers, librarians, booksellers - decided to try to introduce a prize that would be less traditional and that would put readers at the centre. They were concerned that many of the biggest literary prizes often appeared to overlook wonderful writing by women, and hence readers, both male and female, were missing out on fantastic novels by women that they'd really enjoy.

With prize money and a “Bessie” award already donated anonymously, the committee found a partner in Orange – and in 1996 the prize was launched ….. to considerable media attention (not all of it positive!) Each year sees “add ons” – educational and lifelong learning initiatives running parallel to the main prize - while the books themselves are remarkably long-lived, continuing to sell and issue well years later.