Samantha Harvey | |
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.jpg) Harvey in 2019 | |
| Born | 1975 (age 49–50) Kent, England |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Alma mater | Bath Spa University |
| Genre | Literary fiction |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards |
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| Website | |
www | |
Samantha Harvey (born 1975) is an English novelist. She won the2024 Booker Prize for her novelOrbital,[1][2] which drew on conventions from multiple genres and fields, includingliterary fiction,science fiction, andphilosophy.
Harvey spent the first decade of her life inDitton, Kent, nearMaidstone, until her parents' divorce.[3] After that, her mother moved to Ireland, and Harvey spent her teen years moving around with stints inYork,Sheffield, and Japan.[4] Harvey studiedphilosophy at theUniversity of York and theUniversity of Sheffield.[5] She completed theBath Spa University Creative Writing MA course in 2005,[6] and has also completed a PhD in creative writing.[7]
Harvey's first novel,The Wilderness (2009), is written from the point of view of a man developingAlzheimer's disease,[8] and describes through increasingly fractured prose the unravelling effect of the disease. Her second novel,All Is Song (2012), is about moral and filial duty, and about the choice between questioning and conforming.[9] The author has described the novel as a loose, modern day reimagining of the life ofSocrates.[8][10]
Her third novel,Dear Thief, is a long letter from a woman to her absent friend, detailing the emotional fallout of a love triangle. The novel is said to be based on theLeonard Cohen song "Famous Blue Raincoat".[11]Dear Thief was published in 2014 byJonathan Cape. Harvey's fourth novel,The Western Wind, about a priest in fifteenth-centurySomerset, was published in March 2018.[12]
The Shapeless Unease, her only work of non-fiction, is an account of her experience of severeinsomnia. Her 2023 novel,Orbital, won the 2024Booker Prize.[13]It takes place on a space station over one day of low earth orbits, and was described byMark Haddon as "one of the most beautiful novels I have read in a very long time".[8][better source needed]
Her short stories have appeared inGranta[8] and onBBC Radio 4.[14] She reviews forThe Guardian andThe New York Times, and has contributed essays and articles toThe New Yorker,The Telegraph,The Guardian, andTime. Her radio appearances include on Radio 4'sFront Row,Open Book,A Good Read andStart the Week, and Radio 3'sFree Thinking.[15]
Harvey's novels have been considered for many prizes, including theMan Booker Prize, theBaileys Women's Prize for Fiction, theJames Tait Black Memorial Prize, theWalter Scott Prize, and theOrange Prize. In 2010, she was named one of the 12 best new British novelists byThe Culture Show.[8][16] In 2019,The Western Wind won theStaunch Book Prize.[12]
Harvey is published in the UK byJonathan Cape and in the US byGrove Atlantic. She is represented by the literary agent Anna Webber.
Harvey is a Reader on the MA in creative writing at Bath Spa University and a member of the academy for theRathbones Folio Prize, and is as of 2023[update] acting as a mentor for the Rathbones Folio Mentorships.[17] She was a member of the jury for the 2016Scotiabank Giller Prize, and has held writing fellowships atMacDowell in the US,Hawthornden in Scotland,[18] and theSanta Maddalena Foundation in Italy.[19]
She teaches regularly forArvon Foundation, and runs writing courses annually inSpain with the authorEmma Hooper.[20]
| Year | Title | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | The Wilderness | AMI Literature AwardThe Times of India | — | Won | |
| Betty Trask Prize and Awards | Betty Trask Prize | Won | [21] | ||
| Guardian First Book Award | — | Shortlisted | [22] | ||
| Man Booker Prize | — | Longlisted | [23][24] | ||
| Orange Prize for Fiction | — | Shortlisted | [25] | ||
| 2015 | Dear Thief | Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction | — | Longlisted | [26][27] |
| James Tait Black Memorial Prize | Fiction | Shortlisted | [28] | ||
| Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize | — | Longlisted | |||
| 2018 | The Western Wind | HWA Crown Award | Gold Crown | Longlisted | [29] |
| 2019 | Staunch Book Prize | — | Won | [30] | |
| Walter Scott Prize | — | Shortlisted | [31] | ||
| 2020 | International Dublin Literary Award | — | Longlisted | [32] | |
| 2024 | Orbital | Booker Prize | — | Won | [23] |
| Hawthornden Prize | — | Won | [33][34] | ||
| The InWords Literary Award | — | Won | [35] | ||
| Orwell Prize | Political Fiction | Shortlisted | [36] | ||
| Ursula K. Le Guin Prize | — | Shortlisted | [37] |
Harvey's novels have been translated into Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Norwegian, Portuguese and Romanian.[8]
