Natasha Kaplinsky joins Orange Prize jury

12 October 2011

Newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky and BBC Radio 5 live host Victoria Derbyshire are to join the judging panel for the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction.

The jury, chaired by bestselling author Joanna Trollope, will also include writer Lisa Appignanesi and broadcaster Natalie Haynes.

The £30,000 annual prize recognises the work of fiction written in the English language by women.

The winner will be announced on 30 May next year.

"This is a wonderful quartet of judges," Trollope said.

"Because of their different professions, they all have a different perspective on the power of language and ideas, and thus will bring energy and experience to our discussions."

"They are all extremely busy, so I am especially grateful to them all for agreeing to participate in judging this significant prize which has produced winners of true distinction and originality."

It is the first time the panel has been led by a full-time novelist since it began in 1996.

Tea Obreht was last year's winner with The Tiger's Wife - the youngest author to take the prize at the age of 25.

Other previous winners include Helen Dunmore for A Spell of Winter, Lionel Shriver for We Need to Talk about Kevin and Zadie Smith for On Beauty.