British writer Samantha Harvey’s space-station novel 'Orbital' wins the Booker Prize for fiction

LONDON (AP) — British writer Samantha Harvey won the Booker Prize for fiction on Tuesday with “Orbital,” a short, wonder-filled novel set aboard the International Space Station that ponders the beauty and fragility of Earth.

Harvey was awarded the 50,000-pound ($64,000) prize for what she has called a “space pastoral” about six orbiting astronauts, which she began writing during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The confined characters loop through 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets over the course of a day, trapped in one another’s company and transfixed by the globe’s ever-changing vistas.

“To look at the Earth from space is like a child looking into a mirror and realizing for the first time that the person in the mirror is herself," said Harvey, who researched her novel by reading books by astronauts and watching the space station's live camera. "What we do to the Earth we do to ourselves.”

She said the novel “is not exactly about climate change, but implied in the view of the Earth is the fact of human-made climate change."

She dedicated the prize to everyone who speaks "for and not against the Earth, for and not against the dignity of other humans, other life."

“All the people who speak for and call for and work for peace — this is for you,” she said.

Writer and artist Edmund de Waal, who chaired the five-member judging panel, called “Orbital” a “miraculous novel” that “makes our world strange and new for us.”

Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, noted that “in a year of geopolitical crisis, likely to be the warmest year in recorded history,” the winning book was “hopeful, timely and timeless.”

Harvey, who has written four previous novels and a memoir about insomnia, is the first British writer since 2020 to win the Booker. The prize is open to English-language writers of any nationality and has a reputation for transforming writers’ careers. Previous winners include Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Hilary Mantel.

De Waal praised the “crystalline” writing and “capaciousness” of Harvey’s succinct novel — at 136 pages in its U.K. paperback edition, one of the shortest-ever Booker winners.

“This is a book that repays slow reading,” he said.

He said the judges spent a full day picking their winner and came to a unanimous conclusion. Harvey beat five other finalists from Canada, the United States, Australia and the Netherlands, chosen from among 156 novels submitted by publishers.

American writer Percival Everett had been the bookies’ favorite to win with “James,” which reimagines Mark Twain’s “Huckleberry Finn” from the point of view of its main Black character, the enslaved man Jim.

The other finalists were American writer Rachel Kushner’s spy story “Creation Lake”; Canadian Anne Michaels’ poetic novel “Held”; Charlotte Wood’s Australian saga “Stone Yard Devotional”; and “The Safekeep” by Yael van der Wouden, the first Dutch author to be shortlisted for the Booker.

Harvey is the first female Booker winner since 2019, though one of five women on this year’s shortlist, the largest number in the prize’s 55-year history. De Waal said issues such as the gender or nationality of the authors were “background noise” that did not influence the judges.

“There was absolutely no question of box ticking or of agendas or of anything else. It was simply about the novel,” he said before the awards ceremony at Old Billingsgate, a grand former Victorian fish market in central London.

Founded in 1969, the Booker Prize is open to novels originally written in English published in the U.K. or Ireland. Last year’s winner was Irish writer Paul Lynch for post-democratic dystopia “Prophet Song.”

Lynch handed Harvey her Booker trophy at the ceremony, warning her that her life was about to change dramatically because of the Booker publicity boost.

Harvey said she was “overwhelmed," but remained down-to-earth about spending her prize money.

She said she'd disburse “some of it on tax. I want to buy a new bike. And then the rest — I want to go to Japan.”

Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

From left, Yael van der Wouden, Rachel Kushner, Anne Michaels, Britain's Queen Camilla, Charlotte Wood, Percival Everett, and Samantha Harvey pose during a reception for the Booker Prize Foundation at Clarence House, London, Tuesday Nov. 12, 2024. (Aaron Chown, Pool Photo via AP)

Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy and her book "Orbital" after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Samantha Harvey speaks on stage after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Samantha Harvey gives a speech after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Samantha Harvey speaks on stage after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Sara Pascoe arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Yael Van Der Wouden arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Charlotte Wood arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Sebastian Thiel arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Adjoa Andoh arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Gillian Anderson arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Charles Dance arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Percival Everett arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Rachel Kushner arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Lenny Henry, left, arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Yael Van Der Wouden arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Rachel Kushner arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Charlotte Wood arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

The Booker Prize award prior to the dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

The Booker Prize award prior to the dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Charles Dance arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Val McDermid arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Katy Hessel arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Percival Everett arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Gillian Anderson arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Charles Dance arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Yiyun Li arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Sara Pascoe arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Brett Anderson arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Brett Anderson arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Paterson Joseph arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Charles Dance arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

David Olusoga arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Adjoa Andoh arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. The Booker Prize is awarded to the best sustained work of fiction written in English and published in the UK and Ireland, in the opinion of the judges. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Gillian Anderson arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Samantha Harvey arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

Samantha Harvey arrives at the Booker Prize award dinner in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

BERLIN (AP) — The eight European countries targeted by U.S. President Donald Trump for a 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland blasted the move Sunday, warning that the American leader's threats “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”

In an unusual and very strong joint statement coming from major U.S. allies, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland on Sunday said troops sent to Greenland for the Danish military training exercise “Arctic Endurance” pose “no threat to anyone.”

Trump's Saturday announcement sets up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. The Republican president appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security.

“We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland," the group said. “Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind. Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”

There are immediate questions about how the White House could try to implement the tariffs because the EU is a single economic zone in terms of trading. It was unclear, too, how Trump could act under U.S. law, though he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said China and Russia will benefit from the divisions between the U.S. and Europe. She added in a post on social media: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity."

Trump's move was also panned domestically.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot and Democrat who represents Arizona, posted that Trump’s threatened tariffs on U.S. allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”

“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he wrote on social media. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”

Six of the countries targeted are part of the 27-member EU, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trading. It was not immediately clear if Trump's tariffs would impact the entire bloc. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks for Sunday evening to determine a potential response.

The tariff announcement even drew blowback from Trump's populist allies in Europe.

Italy’s right-wing premier, Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Trump’s closest allies on the continent, said Sunday she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she described as “a mistake.”

The deployment to Greenland of small numbers of troops by some European countries was misunderstood by Washington, Meloni told reporters. She said the deployment was not a move against the U.S. but aimed to provide security against “other actors” that she didn’t name.

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media that “no intimidation or threats will influence us, whether in Ukraine, Greenland or anywhere else in the world when we are faced with such situations." He added that "tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context.”

Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and also a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the U.S., describing Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”

Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties — including the hard-right Reform UK party — all of whom criticized the tariff threat.

“We don’t always agree with the U.S. government and in this case we certainly don’t. These tariffs will hurt us,” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a longtime champion and ally of Trump, wrote on social media. He stopped short of criticizing Trump's designs on Greenland.

Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the center-left Labour Party, said the tariffs announcement was “completely wrong” and his government would “be pursuing this directly with the U.S. administration.”

The foreign ministers of Denmark and Norway are also expected to address the crisis Sunday in Oslo during a news conference.

__

Leicester reported from Paris and Cook from Brussels. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Aamer Madhani in Washington and Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.

A crowd walks to the US consulate to protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A boy holds a crossed out map of Greenland topped by a hairpiece symbolizing U.S. President Donald Trump, during a protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)