Man Booker Prize 2018 winner Anna Burns, has added another feather to her cap as she has bagged the Orwell Prize along with Patrick Radden Keefe for their books Milkman and Say Nothing respectively. The two books are based on Troubles, which is the ethnic-nationalist conflict which took place in Northern Ireland in the 20th century. The awards were announced on June 25, on the occasion of George Orwell’s birth anniversary, at University College London.
Interestingly, Milkman was described as a ‘marvel’ by Tom Sutcliffe, who was the chair of the judges for the political fiction prize, Tulip Siddiq, Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, described Say Nothing as ‘an extraordinary piece of writing’. Sutcliffe added that Burns’ book is remarkable and records a specific time and conflict in history with such precision but yet manages to remain universal. On the other hand, Siddiq described Keefe’s book as a story, which comes across as an immensely personal tale, which encompasses the historical narrative of the situation in Northern Ireland perfectly.
With the award, Anna has won the inaugural prize for political fiction for her book which revolves around the story of an 18-year-old girl, who is harassed by an older, married paramilitary. Keefe’s book puts out the forensic details of the murder of Jean McConville, who was murdered by the Irish Republican Army after she was wrongly accused of passing information to the British forces. Both, Anna and Patrick were given prize money of 3,000 pounds.