Ann Patchett Wins Orange Prize for Fiction 2002

Posted on June 27, 2002

Ann Patchett has won the Orange Prize for Fiction 2002 with Bel Canto (4th Estate), a tale of magic realism in which a group of international visitors are taken hostage. The 30,000 pound prize and the "Bessie" -- a limited edition figurine, were presented to the author at a party at Royal Opera House by Chair of Judges, Sue MacGregor. Both prizes are anonymously endowed.

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

Ann Patchett was born in Los Angeles in 1963. She is the author of The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft and The Magician's Assistant (shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 1998), and is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Nashville Banner Tennessee Writer of the Year Award in 1994. She has also written for numerous publications including, the New York Times Sunday Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe, Vogue, GQ, Elle, and Gourmet. Ann Patchett lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Sue MacGregor, Chair of Judges, said: "Ann Patchett's treatment of a bold theme -- a disparate group of people held hostage somewhere in South America -- comes across effortlessly. The effect on her characters of the claustrophobia they must endure is memorably drawn. This is a fine piece of writing, mixing tenderness and danger to an impressive degree."

In Bel Canto, Latin terrorists storm an international gathering hosted by an underprivileged country to promote foreign interest, only to find the President, the intended target, has stayed home to watch his favorite soap opera. The capture throws together an unlikely assortment of hostages: Roxanne Coss, an America opera diva; Mr. Hosokawa, a Japanese CEO and also Roxanne's biggest fan and his translator, Gen. Forced to reach out across the chasms of language, politics and culture, the hostages and their captors must change their beliefs if they are all to survive.

Denise Lewis, Group Director of Corporate Affairs at Orange, said: "The Orange Prize for Fiction continues to be one of the most challenging, controversial and dynamic literary prizes. In a remarkably short time the Orange Prize has taken its place as a major literary award, which has brought women's fiction to new audiences. Orange continues to be proud of this inspiring prize."