American author Lionel Shriver has won the tenth Orange Prize for Fiction with her seventh novel We Need to Talk About Kevin (Serpent's Tail). At a ceremony in central London hosted by Sandi Toksvig, Chair of Judges Jenni Murray, presented the author with the GBP 30,000 prize and the 'Bessie', a limited edition bronze figurine. Both are anonymously endowed.

Jenni Murray, Chair of Judges, said: "We Need to Talk About Kevin is a book that acknowledges what many women worry about but never express - the fear of becoming a mother and the terror of what kind of child one might bring into the world. It's a very courageous book which will resonate with everyone who has had a child or thought about having one."

Pippa Dunn, Director of Brand Marketing at Orange, commented: "Ten years ago the Orange Prize for Fiction shook up the literary world when we launched one of the most controversial literary prizes. Today, it is recognised as one of the UK's most powerful and prestigious awards that has firmly established itself on the global literary calendar. The Orange Prize for Fiction remains committed to bringing women's fiction to a wider audience of readers. Congratulations to Lionel Shriver."

The Orange Prize for Fiction was set up in 1996 to celebrate and promote fiction written by women throughout the world to the widest range of readers possible. The Orange Prize is awarded to the best novel of the year written in English by a woman.

    
    The judges for the 2005 Orange Prize are:
    Jenni Murray, OBE, Broadcaster and author (Chair)
    Jo Brand, Comedienne and author
    Joanne Harris, Author
    Jude Kelly, OBE, Theatre Director
    Moira Stuart, OBE, Broadcaster

Lionel Shriver

Lionel Shriver is the author of seven novels including The Female of the Species, Ordinary Decent Criminals, A Perfectly Good Family and Game Control. She was born in the US and has lived in Nairobi, Bangkok and Belfast. Married to a jazz drummer, she currently lives in London and New York.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Two years after Eva Khatchadourian's son, Kevin, murders seven of his fellow high-school students, a cafeteria worker, and a popular English teacher, Eva begins to write a series of letters to her estranged husband Franklin.

Fearing that her own short-comings may have shaped what her son has become, she confesses to a deep, longstanding ambivalence about motherhood in general and Kevin in particular. But how much is she to blame?

Tackling the ultimate taboo, that a mother can't dislike her own child, Lionel Shriver has written a brutally compelling book that encourages the reader to engage with a most contested moral dilemma.

Previous winners of the Orange Prize for Fiction are Helen Dunmore for A Spell of Winter (1996), Anne Michaels for Fugitive Pieces (1997), Carol Shields for Larry's Party (1998), Suzanne Berne for A Crime in the Neighborhood (1999), Linda Grant for When I Lived in Modern Times (2000), Kate Grenville for Idea of Perfection (2001) Ann Patchett for Bel Canto (2002), Valerie Martin for Property (2003) and Andrea Levy for Small Island (2004).

Diana Evans Wins First Orange Award for New Writers

The Orange Prize awards ceremony also saw the announcement of the first Orange Award for New Writers. Established this year as part of the Orange Prize 10th year celebrations, the emphasis of the Orange Award for New Writers is on emerging talent and the evidence of future potential. Chair of Judges, Kamila Shamsie, presented a GBP 10,000 bursary, provided by Arts Council England, to Diana Evans for her novel 26a (Chatto & Windus).

Notes to Editors

In addition to being shortlisted for the Orange Prize 2005, the following authors have also featured in the promotions listed below:

    
    BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime - Jane Gardam, Old Filth
    BBC Page Turners - Marina Lewycka, A Short History of Tractors
    in Ukrainian
    Richard and Judy Summer Read - Maile Meloy, Liars and Saints
    BBC Page Turners - Lionel Shriver, We Need to Talk About Kevin

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In October 2004, Orange UK won the Mobile Choice Consumer Awards - voted for by readers of Mobile Choice magazine - for Best Network Operator for the fourth year running.

In May 2005, Orange gained the top ranking for customer satisfaction among mobile phone contract customers in the annual J.D.Power and Associates 2005 UK Mobile Telephone Customers Satisfaction Study. It is the seventh time Orange has been ranked top by the study.

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Source: Orange Prize for Fiction

For further information, call the Orange media centre on +44-(0)20-7984-2000 or +44-(0)7973-201911. For further information on the Orange Prize for Fiction, please contact: Amanda Johnson, Sharonne Durkin at Trimedia Communications: Tel: +44-(0)20-7471-6831, +44-(0)20-7471-6893 Fax: +44-(0)20-7371-4424, Email: amanda.johnson@trimediauk.com , sharonne.durkin@trimediauk.com ; Or Hayley Lloyd, Orange Media Centre, Tel: +44-(0)20-7984-2000, Email: hayley.lloyd@orange.co.uk . If you would like to set up an interview with Lionel Shriver after 7th June, please contact Lisa Gooding at Serpent's Tail on +44-(0)20-7354-1949.