Ali Smith wins the 2015 Women's Prize for Fiction with ‘How to be Both’

British novelist Ali Smith has been awarded the 2015 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction for How to Be Both. (See review on this blog on 6/1/15).

Launched in 1996, the Prize is awarded annually and celebrates “excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing from throughout the world.” The winner receives £30,000 (about $46,000) and a limited edition bronze known as a ‘Bessie,’ created by the artist Grizel Niven. Both are anonymously endowed.

Shami Chakrabarti, Chair of Judges, said of Smith’s novel: “Ancient and modern meet and

‘How to be Both’ by Ali Smith: Mindbending and Unforgettable

Photo by Antonio Olmos

The game starts before you read the first word of the book. How to be Both is made up of two sections, each labeled “Part I.” One of the sections centers on the 15th century painter, Francesco del Cossa; the other takes place in 2013 and its protagonist is Georgia, a teenaged English girl mourning the loss of her mother.

Half of all the printed copies of the book have the del Cossa part first; the other half have the George (as Georgia is called throughout) part first. Both have the same cover. It’s the luck of the draw as to which you read but the one that you read also changes your experience of the book.

My edition had the del Cossa section first and I found it to be the