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1st December 2008

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Débuts take three on Orange shortlist

15.04.08 Anna Richardson

First-time authors feature prominently on this year's Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction shortlist, with half the slots going to début novels--Sadie Jones's The Outcast (Chatto), Heather O'Neill's Lullabies for Little Criminals (Quercus) and Patricia Wood's Lottery (Heinemann).

Chatto is the only imprint to boast two on the six-strong list, with Rose Tremain's The Road Home also featuring. The other selected titles are Charlotte Mendelson's When We Were Bad (Picador) and Nancy Huston's Fault Lines (Atlantic).

Commenting on the list, which was announced today (15th April) at the London Book Fair, chair of judges Kirsty Lang said: "We spent a great deal of time in the judging meeting asking the question, 'Is this a book you feel passionately about? Is it a book that you might pass onto a friend and urge them to read?' We all felt these six books passed that test."

The other judges are Lisa Allardice, editor of Guardian Review, novelist Philippa Gregory and Bel Mooney, novelist, journalist and children's author, while "celebrity judge" Lily Allen recently pulled out of judging duties citing "ill health".

The prize was set up in 1996 to celebrate and promote fiction by women, with this year's winner announced on 4th June. Also crowned on the night will be the Orange Broadband New Writers winner, chosen between Lauren Liebenberg's The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam (Virago), Joanna Kavenna's Inglorious (Faber) and Lauren Groff's The Monsters of Templeton (Heinemann).

London Book Fair - Day Two

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