Donoghue on Orange shortlist for novel 'Room'

IRISH WRITER Emma Donoghue has been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel Room.

The novel – Donoghue’s ninth – is a dark tale about a boy who lives with his mother in a locked room.

The book, which recently won the Hughes & Hughes Novel of the Year Award and was also shortlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize, was inspired by the Josef Fritzl case.

Born in Dublin in 1969, Donoghue has written nine novels, including Slammerkinand Stirfry.

Now in its 16th year, the Orange Prize for Fiction is awarded for the best novel of the year written by a woman in the English language.

Previous winners of the award include Barbara Kingsolver, Marilynne Robinson, Rose Tremain, Andrea Levy, Lionel Shriver and Zadie Smith.

The other novelists shortlisted for the 2011 prize are Nicole Krauss for Great House, Kathleen Winter for Annabel, Emma Henderson for Grace Williams Says it Loud, Aminatta Forna for The Memory of Loveand Téa Obreht for The Tiger's Wife.

The judges for the 2011 Orange Prize include journalist Susanna Reid, publisher Liz Calder, novelist Tracy Chevalier and actor Helen Lederer. The broadcaster, historian and author Bettany Hughes is chair of the panel.

Ms Hughes described this year’s shortlist as one “which should give hours of reading pleasure to the wider world”.

The winner of the £30,000 award will be announced at a ceremony to be held at the Royal Festival Hall in London on June 8th.

Meanwhile, writer Sebastian Barry was last night inducted into the Hennessy Literary Awards Hall of Fame.

Barry is best known for his recent novels A Long, Long Wayand The Secret Scripture, but also for plays including political drama Hinterland. He became the ninth inductee, following writers including Neil Jordan, Anne Enright and Dermot Bolger.

At the ceremony, at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Siobhán Mannion was named overall best new Irish writer for her piece Lightning Bugs. Afric McGlinchey won the award in the emerging poetry category, while Eileen Casey won in the emerging fiction category.

This is the 40th year of the Hennessy Literary Awards, which recognise new writing.

This year’s judges were journalist Ciaran Carty, poet Paul Durcan and literary agent AP Watt.