She takes home the award and £30,000 for her novel, The Book of Form and Emptiness, which “stood out for its sparkling writing, warmth, intelligence, humour and poignancy”
The Women's Prize for Fiction is one of the UK's most prestigious literary prizes awarded annually to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English. A panel of esteemed individuals, from editors and authors to journalists and broadcasters, make the difficult decision to select a single winner from an extraordinary shortlist of nominees. This year, the panel consists of Lorraine Candy, Dorothy Koomson, Anita Sethi, and Pandora Sykes, chaired by Mary Ann Sieghart, author of The Authority Gap: Why Women are Still Taken Less Seriously Than Men, and What We Can Do About It.
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On June 15, they announced the winner of the 2022 Women's Prize for Fiction: The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki.
The Book of Form and Emptiness tells the story of Benny Oh, a 14-year-old reeling from the sudden death of his father, who begins to hear voices from inanimate objects around his house. He eventually forms a relationship with The Book, whose distinct voice is enjoyable as it discusses everything from jazz and poetry to climate change and religion. It is a riveting and wonderfully perplexing book that is unlike any other as you are immersed in a surrealist world filled with sympathetic and familiar characters.
This critically acclaimed novel marks American-Canadian author, college professor and practising Zen Buddhist priest, Ruth Ozeki's return to fiction after penning The Face: A Time Code, a short 135-page memoir recording the observations and feelings of staring at herself in the mirror for three hours. Her last work of fiction, A Tale for the Time Being, was shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize and has won Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award and more.
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The Book of Form and Emptiness was selected from a shortlist of fantastic books, from epic sagas and thrilling romance to witty commentaries on issues of identity and mental illness, which all deserve a spot on your reading list. Find out more about these books below.