This years winner Geetanjali Shree has spoken about the colonial legacy of writing in English in the Indian subcontinent and this is true for writers across the globe. English is the language of the rich, with wealthy people from ex British Empire countries going to international schools or being educated abroad in English speaking countries. Publishing is also elitist and extremely inbred industry, with the big players dominating across the globe. Non-white authors who write in English tend to be at least middle class, thus being able to afford to write for a living.