British writer Samantha Harvey’s space-station novel ‘Orbital’ wins the Booker Prize for fiction

LONDON (AP) — British writer Samantha Harvey has won the Booker Prize for fiction with “Orbital,” a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International Space Station.

Harvey was awarded the 50,000-pound ($64,000) prize for what she has called a “space pastoral” about six astronauts circling the Earth, which she began writing during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.

Harvey has written four previous novels and a memoir about insomnia. She is the first British writer since 2020 to win the Booker. She beat five other finalists from Canada, the United States, Australia and the Netherlands, chosen from among 156 novels submitted by publishers.