London, Apr 16 : One of the six authors short listed for the women-only Orange Prize has come up with a new idea too get more boys reading - a literary award only for men.

Sadie Jones was speaking after critics of the 12-year-old prize complained loudly of sex discrimination.

A men's prize could help get more boys reading, she said.

Jones' book The Outcast, set in 1950s England, was one of three debut novels shortlisted on April 15 - though veteran writer Rose Tremain was nominated for her tenth novel, and Charlotte Mendelson for her third.

Jones, 40, said she was "extremely flattered and proud" to make her first literary shortlist, saying her publishers had put her book forward after its publication in February.

"Any prize draws attention to books. I don't think equal opportunity comes into it," The Scotsman quoted her, as saying.

"I think there should be a literary prize for men. I have a son, and you hear a lot about boys not reading. Anything that adds interest or glamour for boys can only be good sense," she added.

The Orange Broadband Prize for fiction, with a top prize of 30,000pounds, was conceived in 1992 by a group of publishers and journalists who felt women novelists had often been passed over for the major literary prizes.

ANI