2008 Ondaatje Prize

NICOLA BARKER, Robert Carver, Orlando Figes, Rachel Lichtenstein, Robert Minhinick and Graham Robb have been shortlisted for the 2008 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize. The £10,000 prize is awarded annually to a work of fiction, nonfiction or poetry which, besides being judged to be of the highest literary merit, best evokes a sense of place. This year’s judges include Russell Celyn Jones, Elaine Feinstein and Romesh Gunesekera.

The Shortlist
Darkmans (Fourth Estate) / Nicola Barker
Paradise with Serpents (Harper Perennial) / Robert Carver
The Whisperers (Allen Lane) / Orlando Figes
On Brick Lane (Hamish Hamilton) / Rachel Lichtenstein
Sea Holly (Seren) / Robert Minhinnick
The Discovery of France (Picador) / Graham Robb

Past recipients of the Ondaatje Prize include Hisham Matar, James Meek, Rory Stuart and Louisa Waugh.

The winner will be announced on April 29, 2008