York graduate named Booker Prize 2024 winner

Published on November 13, 2024

Samantha Harvey, a graduate of the University of York, has been awarded the Booker Prize 2024 for her book titled "Orbital."

Samantha Harvey completed her studies at the university in 1998.

Samantha, an undergraduate who majored in Philosophy and English at York, was awarded £50,000 and a trophy. The award was given to her by Paul Lynch, the 2023 Booker Prize winner, during a ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London.

This year, she is one of five women nominated for the Booker Prize and is the first female winner since 2019. Her book unfolds over the course of a single day, following the experiences of six astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station.

Orbital is the top-selling book on the shortlist in the UK and, right before the awards ceremony, it had outperformed the total sales of the last three Booker Prize winners combined. Additionally, it is the first novel to win that is set in outer space and the second shortest, with just 136 pages.

Samantha Harvey described her award-winning novel by saying, “I envisioned it as a pastoral exploration of space—a way to capture the beauty of the cosmos through nature writing. My goal was to depict our human presence in low Earth orbit over the past twenty-five years, focusing on realism rather than science fiction.”

The Booker Prize is regarded as the most prestigious recognition for a standalone piece of fiction on a global scale. This award is available to writers from across the globe who compose their work in English and have it published in the UK and/or Ireland. For more than fifty years, it has honored and acknowledged exceptional literary talent, significantly influencing the body of literature from the 20th and 21st centuries.

Edmund de Waal, the head judge, characterizes the winning book as “a story about a hurt world.” He also notes that the judges all agreed on the choice of Orbital, highlighting its artistic value and the ambitious scope of the work.

Professor Keith Allen, the head of the Philosophy Department at the university, expressed his pride in Samantha's impressive career, mentioning that this esteemed award is just one of many literary honors she has received.

Assistant Head of Media Relations (job sharing position)

Phone: +44 (0)1904 322029 for business inquiries.