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'Small Island' wins big literary prize

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JUNE 9. A black British writer's semi-fictional account of post-war racism has won Britain's most prestigious literary prize for women writers.

The £30,000 Orange Prize has gone to Andrea Levy's Small Island, based on the experiences of early Jamaican immigrants such as her own parents as they struggled to survive in a cold and racially hostile climate. The judges hailed it as a "compassionate account of the problems of post-war immigration."

"Juggling four voices, she illuminates a little-known aspect of recent British history with wit and wisdom... It cannot fail to have a strong modern resonance," said the chairperson of the jury, Sandi Toksvig, a leading broadcaster.

Ms. Levy, who beat formidable rivals such as Margaret Atwood and Rose Tremain to win the prize, described it as the "greatest honour of my life."

There was a time, she recalled, when it was extremely difficult for black writers to publish. "When I wrote my first novel I found it hard to get published because it was `black writing' and publishers thought it would only appeal to black readers. Winning tonight is a tremendous validation," the 47-year-old writer said.

Ms. Levy, whose parents were only the black family on a north London estate, said that "they didn't have money to go back" even if they wanted to return home.

The novel centres around the frustrations and disappointments of the family of a Jamaican RAF soldier when he decides to settle down in Britain after the Second World War.

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