Tag Archives: prizes

Books & Authors

Briefly Noted | Tweet Treats Goes Gourmand

January 27, 2012 – 9:03 am

Regular visitors to writing.ie may remember an interview Barbara Scully did with writer Jane Travers last year on the publication of her quirky book, Tweet Treats. You can read the article, Tweet Treats is a Treat For All  here.

We were delighted to hear that this fabulous book was nominated for a Food Writing Award recently and so asked its author Jane Travers to fill us in and tell us all about it.

via Tweet Treats Goes Gourmand.

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News

Irish Author On The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year Shortlist

July 1, 2011 – 11:02 am

Debut Irish novelist William Ryan has made this year’s shortlist for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. The newcomer will be battling for the coveted prize amongst five crime fiction stalwarts.

Also on the shortlist is Mark Billingham, looking to make this year a hat-trick after winning the prize in 2005 and 2009 (for Lazy Bones and Death Message respectively). Lee Child, meanwhile, will be hoping that this will be his lucky year; the bestselling author has yet to win the prize, despite the fact that one of his Jack Reacher novels sells somewhere in the world every few seconds. Both authors will go head to head with last year’s Festival Chair Stuart MacBride, and Andrew Taylor, whose Cambridge-set historical chiller Anatomy of Ghosts won much critical praise upon publication.

Lancashire-born SJ Bolton is the only woman to have made the cut with Blood Harvest. Having burst onto the crime scene in 2008, she has been hailed the ‘high priestess of rural gothic crime.’

Now in its seventh year, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, in partnership with Asda, and this year in association with the Daily Mirror, was created to celebrate the very best in crime writing and is open to British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback between 1 January 2010 and 31 May 2011.

The winner of the prize will be announced by radio broadcaster and festival regular Mark Lawson on the opening night of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate on Thursday 21st July. The winner will receive a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakstons Old Peculier.

On the same night, a special presentation will be made to the winner of the second Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award, which this year is presented to P.D. James.

The shortlist in full:
From The Dead by Mark Billingham (Sphere)
Blood Harvest by SJ Bolton (Corgi Books)
61 Hours by Lee Child (Bantam Books)
Dark Blood by Stuart MacBride (Harper Fiction)
The Holy Thief by William Ryan (Pan Books)
The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor (Michael Joseph)

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News

McCann Wins IMPAC

June 16, 2011 – 8:38 am

Colum McCann has won the 2011 IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize for his novel Let The Great World Spin. The award, the richest in the book world, carries a €100,000 prize for the winner.

McCann was born in Ireland but has lived in the United States since the mid-1990s. He defeated nine other authors including Colm Tóibín and William Trevor to gain the prize.

His book had previously won the National Book Award in the United States in 2009.

There’s an excellent feature piece with Eileen Battersby in today’s Irish Times:

Books were always at hand. His father, Seán McCann, was the features editor at the Irish Press . “He would give me a book and say ‘here, have a look at this’. I was always reading, everything, Kerouac. It was great. Then I decided I would write the great Irish novel but I couldn’t. I wasn’t messed-up enough. I was this middle class boy from the Clonkeen Road and had had a happy childhood.”

Image Credit:

Colum McCann. European Graduate School, www.egs.edu/, Photograph by Hendrik Speck,www.hendrikspeck.com/, Source: www.flickr.com/photos/hendrikspeck/

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News

Haughton Wins Bisto Children's Book Of The Year Award

May 16, 2011 – 2:03 pm

A Bit LostChris Haughton, author and illustrator of the children’s picture book A Bit Lost, has been announced as the winner of the 21st Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Award which comes with a prize of €10,000.

The announcement was made by Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Frances Fitzgerald TD at a ceremony held at the National Library in Dublin.

Haughton’s book tells the story of an accidentally orphaned owl, who, after falling from his nest while sleeping, sets out with the help of new friends to find his way home to his mummy. The judges said that the work’s brilliantly simple verbal text, complemented by a quirkily psychedelic and surreal visual text, captures both the anxiety and thrill of being lost.

During the ceremony, eight of ten appointed junior juries comprising young people from school and library reading groups around Ireland also presented their thoughts about the shortlisted titles and revealed the winner of the ‘Children’s Choice Award’. The winner of the ‘Children’s Choice Award’ which carries a prize of €1,500 was Taking Flight by Sheena Wilkinson. Taking Flight was overwhelmingly chosen by the junior juries as their winner awarding Sheena Wilkinson with her second title in this year’s awards.

The winner of the Eilís Dillon award valued at €3,000 and which is awarded to a first time author or illustrator is also Chris Haughton for A Bit Lost. This is the first time in the history of the awards that both the overall and Eilís Dillon Awards have been awarded to the same person.

The judges also made three ‘Special Awards’, each carrying a prize of €1,500 to the following:

  1. Judges Special Award: Oliver Jeffers, The Heart and The Bottle for dealing with a sensitive subject in an outstanding way
  2. Honour Award for Illustration: Andrew Whitson for Mac Rí Eireann for the quintessential character of the visual text that transforms this picture book into an aesthetic object of great desire – a true work of art
  3. Honour Award for Fiction: Sheena Wilkinson for Taking Flight, a masterfully structured narrative which suggests, in an unsentimental manner, that the inner struggle to understand oneself can be redemptive

The Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards are the leading children’s book awards in Ireland. The Awards are a celebration of excellence in children’s literature and illustration and are open to books written in English or Irish by authors and illustrators born or resident in Ireland and published between 1 January and 31 December each year. Previous winners include John Boyne for his book The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas; Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick for her books You, Me and the Big Blue Sea and There; Siobhan Dowd for her books The London Eye Mystery and Bog Child (posthumous) and Kate Thompson for her books The New Policeman, Annan Water and The Alchemist’s Apprentice.

Sean Brett, Marketing Controller, Premier Foods Ireland the owners of the Bisto brand which has sponsored the Awards since their inception in 1990 congratulated each of the winners and said that Bisto was proud to continue to support excellence in children’s writing and illustration. ‘Generation after generation of young people continue to find enjoyment and inspiration between the covers of a good book. Children’s literature is so valuable in so many ways and it is only right and proper that excellence in writing and illustration should be celebrated and rewarded. Bisto believed that 21 years ago when we first suggested that an Awards scheme should be introduced and we believe it just as much today.’

Keith O’Sullivan, chair of the judging panel said that the task of selecting a winner becomes more difficult each year. ‘The quality of submissions this year reflects the growing sophistication and appeal of books by Irish authors and illustrators. The arrival of several new picture book talents in this year’s shortlist is a very significant development for Irish children’s books.’

To mark the 21st anniversary of the Awards, Children’s Books Ireland who administer the Awards in partnership with sponsors Bisto, will be staging a travelling exhibition documenting the history of the Awards and the previous 20 winning titles, authors and illustrators. Members of the public are also being asked to vote for their favourite winning title in a national ‘Bisto Ballot’, the results of which will be announced in the autumn. The exhibition will leave the National Library where it has been open to the public since March and travel to libraries in Meath (May and June), Donegal (August and September), Cork (October) and Mayo (November and December.

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Briefly Noted

Briefly Noted | Race for the Bisto prize hots up

May 16, 2011 – 10:22 am

The Bisto awards, open to writers and illustrators born or resident in Ireland, will be presented on Monday at the National Library. The 10 shortlisted titles will compete for six awards, including the Eilís Dillon Award for debut authors or illustrators, the Children’s Choice Award and, of course, the coveted Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Award, the winner of which will receive €10,000, from a total prize fund of €19,000.

With past winners across the categories including John Boyne, Siobhán Parkinson, Roddy Doyle, Eoin Colfer and Kate Thompson, these gongs have been highlighting the importance of Irish children’s books for more than two decades. It is heartening to see that, despite the bleak economic climate, Children’s Books Ireland and Bisto are still committed to supporting children’s authors and illustrators with a respected annual prize that stands proudly beside such established honours as the US’s Newbery Medal and Britain’s Carnegie and Kate Greenaway awards.

via Race for the Bisto prize hots up – The Irish Times – Sat, May 14, 2011.

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News

Emma Donoghue Makes The Orange Prize Shortlist

April 14, 2011 – 10:34 am

Emma Donoghue has made the Orange Prize shortlist with her novel, Room.

The Orange Prize for Fiction is the UK’s only annual book award for fiction written by a woman and this year is celebrating its sixteenth anniversary.

The winner will be announced on 8 June 2011 and will be presented with a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze statue known as ‘the Bessie’, created by artist Grizel Niven. Both are anonymously endowed.

The judges for the 2011 Orange Prize for Fiction are Bettany Hughes (Chair), Liz Calder, Tracy Chevalier, Helen Lederer and Susanna Reid. ‘We are proud and pleased to announce our shortlist for the Orange Prize 2011,’ commented Bettany Hughes, Chair of judges. ‘Our judging meeting fizzed for many hours with conversations about the originality, excellence and readability of the books in front of us – credit to the calibre of submissions this year.’

~The Full Shortlist~
Emma Donoghue - Room – Picador
Aminatta Forna - The Memory of Love – Bloomsbury
Emma Henderson - Grace Williams Says it Loud – Sceptre
Nicole Krauss - Great House – Viking
Téa Obreht - The Tiger’s Wife – Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Kathleen Winter - Annabel – Jonathan Cape

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News

21st Bisto Children's Book Of The The Year Awards Shortlist Announced

March 7, 2011 – 12:11 pm

The shortlist for the 21st Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards was revealed today. The winners will be announced at a ceremony held in The National Library of Ireland on Monday 16th May.

Each of the ten titles will compete for six awards which include, for the second year running, the ‘Children’s Choice Award’ voted for by ten junior juries located across the country.

Keith O’Sullivan, chair of the judging panel who this year read more than 70 titles said, ‘This year we have ten exceptional titles from a mix of established names and new talents. Irish authors and illustrators have shown exceptional skill in tackling both classic texts and contemporary themes. The shortlist offers something that all readers, young and old will enjoy.’

To mark the 21st anniversary of the Awards, Children’s Books Ireland who administer the Awards in partnership with sponsors Bisto, will be staging a travelling exhibition documenting the history of the Awards and the previous 20 winning titles, authors and illustrators. Members of the public are also being asked to vote for their favourite winning title in a national ‘Bisto Ballot’, the results of which will be announced in the autumn. The exhibition will be located at The National Library until Monday 16 May when it will then travel to a number of libraries across the country.

Nuala Naughton, Senior Brand Manager at Premier Foods Ireland, the owners of the Bisto brand which has sponsored the Awards since their inception in 1990 congratulated each of the shortlisted authors and illustrators. ‘We are delighted to continue the Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards and to support the promotion of excellence in children’s writing and illustration. Books provide us with an opportunity to learn, be entertained, discover new places and people and make for a great companion on long journeys. Children’s literature is hugely important as it plays a key role in developing not just language skills and critical thinking but also in nurturing real enjoyment in reading. We look forward to the announcement of the winners and hearing what the ten junior juries thought of the shortlisted titles.’

This year’s total prize fund is €19,000, with the overall winner of the Bisto Book of the Year Award receiving €10,000. The winner of the Eilís Dillon award, which is presented to a first time children’s author or illustrator, will receive €3,000 and the winner of the Children’s Choice Award €1,500. The remaining prize fund will be split equally between the three Bisto Honour Awards, one for writing, one for illustration and a Judges Special Recognition Award.

The shortlist is below:
A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton
Dancing in the Dark by Peter Prendergast
Mac Rí Éireann by Caitríona Hastings and Andrew Whitson
Prim Improper by Deirdre Sullivan
Taking Flight by Sheena Wilkinson
The Heart and The Bottle by Oliver Jeffers
The Lunatic’s Curse by F E Higgins
The Owl and The Pussycat illustrated by Kevin Waldron
Tiny Little Fly illustrated by Kevin Waldron
Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers

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News

Northern Irish Writer Wins Costa Novel Prize

January 5, 2011 – 10:30 am

Northern Irish-born but London-based writer Maggie O’Farrell has won the Costa Novel Award category for her book, The Hand That First Held Mine. O’Farrell beat Irish author, Paul Murray who was nominated in the same category for his Skippy Dies.

The award marks O’Farrell’s first major award with what is her fifth novel.

The Costa Book Awards recognise some of the most outstanding and enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. It was originally established in 1971 by Whitbread PLC, Costa announced its takeover of the sponsorship of the UK’s popular and prestigious book prize in 2006. In 2009, Irish novelist. Colm Tóibín won the novel award for Brooklyn.

John Derkach, Managing Director, Costa said, ‘The Costa Book Awards are all about recognising great writing and a good read. This year’s winners are, as always, no exception to the rule and we’re very proud to be announcing such a terrific collection of books.’

The five Costa Book Award winners, each of whom will receive £5,000, were selected from 540 entries. The five books are now eligible for the ultimate prize – the 2010 Costa Book of the Year.

The winner, selected by a panel of judges chaired by publisher and broadcaster Andrew Neil and including David Morrissey, Elizabeth McGovern, Natasha Kaplinsky, Anneka Rice and Adele Parks, will be announced at an awards ceremony hosted by presenter and broadcaster Penny Smith at Quaglino’s in central London on Tuesday 25 January 2011.

Winners of the other categories were:
Edmund de Waal ~  Costa Biography Award for his memoir ~ The Hare With Amber Eyes
Jason Wallace ~ Costa Children’s Book Award ~ Out of Shadows
Kishwar Desai ~ Costa First Novel Award ~ Witness the Night
Jo Shapcott ~ Costa Poetry Award ~ Of Mutability
Maggie O’Farrell ~ Costa Novel Award ~ The Hand That First Held Mine

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News

The Fortnightly News Round Up 29/03/2010

March 29, 2010 – 7:47 am

All the stories from the last fortnight.

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Books & Authors Publishing

So What's The Costa?

January 5, 2010 – 4:17 pm

Award Image

The Costa Book Awards Logo


Good Question
It used to be the Whitbread Award named after the brewers, who now call themselves a hospitality company, and it started way back in 1971. For a full list if winners, you should read this list here.

In 2006 Costa Coffee came on board as the main sponsor and succeeded in raising the profile of the award at least in popular terms. It certainly made an incredible impact with the choices of judges and the success of some of he more recent winner. There is a PDF of all judges since 1971 here.

Is It All About The Money?
It is that impact in sales that really makes Costa impressive and important. Beginning with Stef Penny‘s Tenderness of Wolves which became a runaway success, winning a Costa has been seen as an almost assured ticket to huge sales.

Penny stormed the charts following her win securing in many ways the future of her publisher Quercus (who have also seen the enormous success with Stieg Larsson). When Sebastian Barry won the Costa for his novel Secret Scripture in 2009 he went on to enormous success. He sold some 70,000 copies in Ireland and over 300,000 in the UK.

Colm Toibin’s win might not result in such a bracing result because he has a somewhat more literary profile that might put off more mass market buyers. On the other hand, Brooklyn has already been selling fairly well and this may well push his book that little bit more.

It seems to me that the 2009 awards have so far been well received (the Overall Prize is yet to be awarded) and that bodes well for the press coverage essential to reinforce this win.

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