Since its inception in 1969, the Booker Prize has been one of the most prestigious literary awards a writer can win. This year, the Booker Prize was awarded to British author Samantha Harvey, for her novel Orbital. It's also worth noting that Harvey's book Orbital became the first book in the Space genre to win a Booker Prize.
While the book has received great reviews from critics across the globe, it's also important to know more about the person who has written the book - Samantha Harvey. As mentioned above, a British citizen, Harvey was born in England, and spent her early life in different places within the country and also in Japan.
It's also worth noting that Samantha Harvey completed a Creative Writing MA course at Bath Spa University and even holds a PhD in the subject. As a matter of fact, the British author's first ever novel was published after she completed her PhD and wrote The Wilderness 15 years ago in 2009. This novel earned Harvey a lot of recognition.
After The Wilderness was published, Harvey went on to write three more books but found success on her fourth attempt when she wrote the Orbital. Her novels have also won her many accolades. Let us take a look at the awards each of her novels have received:
- The Wilderness: AMI Literature AwardThe Times of India, Betty Trask Prize and Awards
- The Western Wind: Staunch Book Prize
- Orbital: Booker Prize, Hawthornden Prize, The InWords Literary Award
Other than writing novels and winning awards, Harvey has also developed a reputation for writing short stories, and a lot of her work in this area has been featured in the popular literary magazine Granta. Along with this, she has also written reviews and columns for some of the most established news organizations and magazines around the world.