Kaplinsky joins Orange judges

Highly paid newsreader and the first winner of Strictly Come Dancing, Natasha Kaplinsky, has joined the judging panel for the 2012 Orange Prize for fiction.  Kaplinsky will work with fellow judges Lisa Appignanesi, Victoria Derbyshire, Natalie Haynes and Joanna Trollope to choose the best book written by a woman.  According to Trollope, who will be chairing the judging panel the “different professions” of the five judges will bring different perspectives to the prize.  These different professions are journalist, broadcaster and author.  At least one of the women is all three.  Not exactly a wide range of women’s experiences being taken into account there but I look forward to seeing the short list when it is announced.