SAM BINNIE WINS ORANGE PRIZE FOR SHORT FICTION

I'm sure there's no conspiracy involved here, but a woman with a man's name has also taken the Orange prize for short fiction. That's right, a twenty-three year old employed by Penguin named Sam Binnie won the award for her first published short story. I was about to pen a self-righteous diatribe about the stronghold that men still have on the literary world, when I decided it might be best to read the story first. One brief reading of "The Dress" immediately put my escalating paranoia to rest. If a man had written this story, he would have to be so totally attuned to the female psyche that no one could ever claim sexism in the choice.

The second time I read simply for pleasure. And this story about a woman's life told through short vignettes about the dresses she wore provides many pleasures--from the hopeful, but cautionary description of the dress she wore at seven, to the sad and yet ultimately luminous chapter that describes the garment she wears at forty-five. Clearly, both Sam and Lionel deserve to be read by men and women alike.