Future's bright for the debut novelist – aged 63

Published on Tuesday 17 March 2009 21:04

A 63-YEAR-OLD first-time novelist is among the longlisted candidates for this year's Orange Prize for Fiction, announced today.

Gaynor Arnold, who works for Birmingham Council's adoption and fostering service, was nominated for Girl In A Blue Dress, a fictionalised account of the life of Charles Dickens's wife.

She is joined by more established writers, including the Nobel Prize-winning American author Toni Morrison, with her ninth novel, A Mercy.

The Orange prize was founded in 1996 to celebrate fiction by women and is awarded to the best novel of the year written in English.

This year's longlist includes a record nine authors from the United States, six debut novels and, for the first time, a work by a Malaysian writer.

Ms Arnold's nomination comes after her work was longlisted for last year's Booker Prize. The author, originally from Cardiff, said she hoped her book would appeal even to people not familiar with Dickens or his work.

The judges for the Orange Prize this year are the novelist Bidisha, entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox, the journalists Kira Cochrane and Sarah Churchwell and the broadcaster Fi Glover, who chairs the panel.

Ms Glover said: "All the books on the longlist are there because each one, in its own way, is terrific in its ambition, quality and simple ability to entertain."

She added: "We had a fabulous, if difficult, time narrowing the list down to 20 novels – and it's a wide-open field."

The shortlist for the prize will be announced on 21 April, and the award ceremony will be held on 3 June.