George Saunders wins the inaugural Folio Prize

The inaugural Folio Prize was awarded at a glittering event this evening at the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London to George Saunders for Tenth of December.

Chair of judges for The Folio Prize for 2014, writer Lavinia Greenlaw presented Saunders with a stunning trophy designed for the Prize by leading British designer Sir Kenneth Grange. On receiving the prize, George Saunders said that since he started writing, fiction was about softening the borders between him and other people. In a time when the discourse tells us that we are all antagonistic towards each other - "fiction reminds us that we are all the same".

400 invited guests enjoyed a luxury menu and speeches from founder of The Folio Prize Andrew Kidd and Toby Hartwell, Managing Director of The Folio Society who are the sponsor of The Folio Prize. Greenlaw introduced by name the Prize Judges for 2014 comprising international writers Michael Chabon, Sarah Hall, Nam Le and Pankaj Mishra.

All shortlisted authors were invited to the stage to receive a certificate with the exception of Kent Haruf who was unable to travel but was represented by his publisher, Paul Baggaley. These were Anne Carson for Red Doc, Amity Gaige for Schroder, Jane Gardam for Last Friends, Haruf for Benediction, Rachel Kushner for The Flame Throwers, Eimear McBride for A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing, Sergio De La Pava for A Naked Singularity and George Saunders for Tenth of December.