Maybe it's time to let men judge Orange Prize, chair of jury says

By Arifa Akbar, Arts Correspondent at The Independent.

The chair of the jury of Britain's leading women's literary prize has called for a debate on whether men should be included on the judging panel to ensure a broader mix of tastes.
The Orange Prize, founded in 1996 to redress the gender imbalance in publishing, has enjoyed a long list of judges ranging from writers and literary critics to a model and singers. But while France's main prize for women's fiction, the Prix Femina, allows men as judges, Orange Prize judges are solely women.
Kirsty Lang, (pictured) the chair of this year's jury, who will announce the winner on Wednesday, said that now, 12 years after the prize was set up, it might be time to discuss letting men in.
"I'm open-minded about it. It would be an interesting debate for organisers to have. Seventy per cent of fiction is bought by women, so having a panel of women judges means they know what women like," she said.
"But I think it could be quite interesting to have a man on the panel.
"The one disadvantage to an all-female jury is that there are certain books that women like ... the judging could be tilted a bit against science fiction."

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