British author Samantha Harvey has won the 2024 Booker Prize for her novel *Orbital*. Announced on November 13, the book explores a day in the lives of six astronauts aboard the International Space Station, featuring a diverse crew of two men and four women.
Harvey becomes the first woman to win the Booker Prize since 2019, earning £50,000 as her prize. The judges, led by Edmund de Waal, made the decision unanimously, praising the novel’s unique perspective and narrative depth.
In her acceptance speech, Harvey dedicated her prize to individuals advocating for planetary care, human dignity, and global peace. She told BBC News she was “completely surprised and deeply overwhelmed” by the recognition, calling it life-changing.
At 136 pages, *Orbital* is the second-shortest book to win the Booker Prize and the first-ever space-themed novel to do so. Harvey wrote the novel during the COVID-19 lockdown, making her achievement even more remarkable.
