19.15pm, London, 4 June 2008 – British debut author Joanna Kavenna has won the 2008 Orange Broadband Award for New Writers with her novel Inglorious (Faber & Faber).

Chair of Judges, Shami Chakrabarti, presented the £10,000 bursary, provided by Arts Council England, to the author at the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London.

Shami Chakrabarti, Chair of Judges said: ”Dostoevsky meets Bridget Jones in this glorious story of pain, humour and hope. Joanna Kavenna combines courage and elegance in creating an anti-heroine for the 21st century.”

Launched in 2005 as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, the emphasis of the Orange Broadband Award for New Writers is on emerging talent and the evidence of future potential.

All first works of fiction - including novels, short story collections and novellas, written in English by a woman of any age or nationality and published as a book in the UK - are eligible. First time authors can be entered for both the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction and the Orange Broadband Award for New Writers in any one year.

The Award was launched in 2005 in partnership with Arts Council England. Renewing their commitment to the partnership with Orange, Arts Council England recently committed a further £30,000 towards bursary awards for the winners of the Orange Broadband Award for New Writers. By offering a bursary to a novelist or short story writer for her first publication, the Arts Council is able to support the professional development of a writer at a crucial stage in her career.