The Orange Prize

The Orange Prize for Fiction 2008 longlist came out last week. The Orange Prize is awarded each year for the best novel in English written by a woman. It bugs me. I think that setting up a separate prize for women is saying that women cannot compete with men and need their own remedial competition. Plenty of people disagree -- and they are free to put the Orange Prize winners on their TBR list. But a book won't make my list just for winning the Orange Prize or for being written by a woman.