Samantha Harvey (author)

Samantha Harvey
Harvey in 2019
Born	1975 (age 48–49) Kent,England
Occupation	Novelist
Alma mater	Bath Spa University
Genre	Literary fiction
Years active	2008–present
Notable works	The Wilderness(2009) Orbital(2023)
Notable awards	Betty Trask Prize(2009) Booker Prize(2024)
Website
www.samanthaharvey.co.uk

Samantha Harvey(born 1975) is an English novelist. She won the2024 Booker Prizefor her novelOrbital,which drew on conventions from multiple genres and fields, includingliterary fiction,science fiction,andphilosophy.

Early life and education

Harvey spent the first decade of her life inDitton, Kent,nearMaidstone,until her parents' divorce.After that, her mother moved to Ireland, and Harvey spent her teen years moving around with stints inYork,Sheffield,and Japan.Harvey studiedphilosophyat theUniversity of Yorkand theUniversity of Sheffield.She completed theBath Spa UniversityCreative Writing MA course in 2005,and has also completed a PhD in creative writing.

Career

Harvey performing a headstand on stage at the 2014Wigtown Book Festival

Her first novel,The Wilderness(2009), is written from the point of view of a man developingAlzheimer's disease,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.The author has described the novel as a loose, modern day reimagining of the life ofSocrates.

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 Cohensong "Famous Blue Raincoat".Dear Thiefwas published in 2014 byJonathan Cape.Harvey's fourth novel,The Western Wind,about a priest in fifteenth-centurySomerset,was published in March 2018.

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.It takes place on a space station over one day of low earth orbits, and was described byMark Haddonas "one of the most beautiful novels I have read in a very long time".

Her short stories have appeared inGrantaand onBBC Radio 4.She reviews forThe GuardianandThe 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 ReadandStart the Week,and Radio 3'sFree Thinking.

On stage withPetina Gappahand Lee Randall at the 2015Edinburgh International Book Festival

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.In 2019,The Western Windwon theStaunch Book Prize..

Harvey is published in the UK byJonathan Capeand 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 2023acting as a mentor for the Rathbones Folio Mentorships.She was a member of the jury for the 2016Scotiabank Giller Prize,and has held writing fellowships atMacDowellin the US,Hawthorndenin Scotland,and theSanta Maddalena Foundationin Italy.

She teaches regularly forArvon Foundation,and runs writing courses annually inSpainwith the authorEmma Hooper.

Accolades

Harvey's writing has been compared to that ofVirginia Woolf.

Nominations and prizes

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
		Guardian First Book Award	—	Shortlisted
		Man Booker Prize	—	Longlisted
		Orange Prize for Fiction	—	Shortlisted
2015	Dear Thief	Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction	—	Longlisted
		James Tait Black Memorial Prize	Fiction	Shortlisted
		Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize	—	Longlisted
2018	The Western Wind	HWA Crown Award	Gold Crown	Longlisted
2019		Staunch Book Prize	—	Won
		Walter Scott Prize	—	Shortlisted
2020		International Dublin Literary Award	—	Longlisted
2024	Orbital	Booker Prize	—	Won
		Hawthornden Prize	—	Won
		The InWords Literary Award	—	Won
		Orwell Prize	Political Fiction	Shortlisted
		Ursula K. Le Guin Prize	—	Shortlisted

Bibliography

Novels

• —— (2009).The Wilderness.Jonathan Cape.ISBN9780224086073.
• —— (2012).All Is Song.Jonathan Cape.ISBN9780224096324.
• —— (2014).Dear Thief.Jonathan Cape.ISBN9780224101721.
• —— (2018).The Western Wind.Jonathan Cape.ISBN9781787330597.
• —— (2023).Orbital.Jonathan Cape.ISBN9781787334342.

Non-fiction

• —— (2020).The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping.Jonathan Cape.ISBN9781787332027.

Translations

Harvey's novels have been translated into Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, Norwegian, Portuguese and Romanian.

External links

• Official website