Official announcement of the 2025 Booker Prize winner

First Woman Since 2019: Samantha Harvey Wins £50,000 Booker Prize for 'Orbital'

Nov 12, 2024, 10:25 PM

British author Samantha Harvey has won the 2024 Booker Prize for her fifth novel, "Orbital", a short and ambitious work set aboard the International Space Station. Harvey is the first woman since 2019 to win the prestigious £50,000 prize, which amounts to just under $64,000. "Orbital" is the first Booker Prize-winning novel set in space and follows astronauts over the course of 24 hours, depicting 16 sunsets and 16 sunrises as the space station orbits Earth. The novel is also notable for being the second-shortest book to receive the award. Harvey dedicated the prize to "everyone who speaks for the Earth and for the dignity of other humans". She researched the novel by watching space livestreams during lockdown, describing the book as a "space pastoral". The win has been celebrated by literary figures and recognized as a bold and imaginative choice by the Booker judges.