British author Samantha Harvey has won the 2024 Booker Prize for Orbital, a novel about a day in the life of six International Space Station astronauts lauded by judges for its “beauty and ambition.” Along with the coveted literary honour, Harvey will receive a prize of £50,000 pounds, or about $90,000.

In her acceptance speech, Harvey dedicated her victory to those who “speak for and not against the Earth, for and not against the dignity of other humans, other life, and all the people who speak for, and call for, and work for peace.” 

Orbital, a short but awe-inspiring “space pastoral” written in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, follows the astronauts along their circuit of the Earth, watching sunrises, sunsets and weather patterns across the ever-changing, complicated global landscape. The book was selected by a five-judge panel from a six-novel shortlist that included Held by Canadian Anne Michaels, a four-generation-long story born from the ashes of the First World War, and James by American author Percival Everett, a retelling of the Mark Twain classic Huckleberry Finn. Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, described Harvey’s novel, which ruminates from above on climate change and humans’ impact on the environment, as “hopeful, timely and timeless.”

Harvey’s first brush with the Booker came in 2009, when her debut novel The Wilderness made the “baker’s dozen” longlist. Her win marks the first time a female author has won the award since 2019.