How many of the books on the shortlist have you heard of, let alone read? I've heard of Kevin Barry, There Are Little Kingdoms from the Stinging Fly Press as some people I know rate Kevin highly. Haven't read the book though.
The non-fiction book John Stubbs, Donne: The Reformed Soul (Penguin) is supposed to be good though. I remember a girl I shared a house with at college falling head long in love with John Donne and his lush sentiments and words. Helen Pickering, if you're around, get in touch.
I've met Maria McManus, Reading the Dog ( Lagan Press) who is a lovely, lively poet from the North. Daljit Nagra, Look, We Have Coming to Dover! (Faber and Faber) has had lots of accolades.
With a total prize fund of €45,000, the annual Glen Dimplex New Writers Awards offer unprecedented support and exposure for emerging writers in a range of genres. Awards were made to the best first book published by an author within each of the following five categories: Fiction, Biography/Non-fiction, Children’s literature, Poetry and Irish-language (all genres).
Shortlists for this year’s awards were:
Fiction
Kevin Barry, There Are Little Kingdoms (Stinging Fly Press)
Jane Feaver, According to Ruth (Harvill Secker)
Nikita Lalwani, Gifted (Penguin/Viking)
Hisham Matar, In the Country of Men (Penguin/Viking)
Mark McNay, Fresh (Canongate Books)
Vijay Medtia, The House of Subadar (Arcadia Books)
Biography/Non-fiction
Catherine Bailey, Black Diamonds: The Rise and Fall of an English Dynasty (Penguin/Viking)
Rob Gifford, China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power (Bloomsbury)
Ed Husain, The Islamist: Why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I left (Penguin/Allen Lane)
Rory McCarthy, Nobody Told Us We Are Defeated: Stories from the New Iraq (Chatto & Windus)
Will Morrison, Between the Mountains and the Gantries (Appletree Press)
John Stubbs, Donne: The Reformed Soul (Penguin)
Children’s literature
Sharon Dogar, Waves (Chicken House)
Lyn Gardner, Into the Woods (Random House)
Rowland Molony, After the Death of Alice Bennett (Oxford University Press)
Sarah Mussi, The Door of No Return (Hodder Children’s Books)
Andy Stanton, You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum! (Egmont Press)
Jenny Valentine, Finding Violet Park (Harper Collins Children's Books)
Poetry
Tiffany Atkinson, Kink and Particle (Seren)
Annie Freud, The Best Man that Ever Was (Pan Macmillan)
Maria McManus, Reading the Dog ( Lagan Press)
Daljit Nagra, Look, We Have Coming to Dover! (Faber and Faber)
Nell Regan, Preparing for Spring (Arlen House)
Clare Shaw, Straight Ahead (Bloodaxe Books)
Irish-language
Tony Bromell, Rian mo Chos ar Ghaineamh an tSaoil (Cló Iar-Chonnachta)
Mícheál De Barra, An Bóthar go Santiago (Cois Life)
Máirín Ni Laoithe Uí Shé, Sin Iad na Rudaí (Coiscéim)
Brenda Ní Shúilleabháin, Bibeanna: Memories from a Corner of Ireland (Mercier Press)
Gabhán Ó Fachtna, Bás is Beatha ar an Bhóthar Chreagach (Coiscéim)
Seán O'Connor, Seán Ruiséal agus Iníon an Oileáin (Coiscéim)
Each category winner received a prize of €5,000. The Glen Dimplex New Writer of the Year 2007 was chosen from the five category winners and received a further €20,000.
And the Winners are:
John Stubbs has been named Glen Dimplex New Writer of the Year 2007 for his book Donne: The Reformed Soul, published by Penguin/Viking.
The winner of the Fiction category was Hisham Matar for his book In the Country of Men ( Penguin/Viking); the Children’s Book category was won by Sarah Mussi for The Door of No Return ( Hodder Children’s Books); the Poetry prize went to Annie Freud for The Best Man that Ever Was ( Pan Macmillan); while the prize for best Irish-language book went to Mícheál De Barra for An Bóthar go Santiago ( Cois Life).
The judges for this year’s awards were: Kevin Crossley-Holland, Maire Cruise O’Brien, Philip Cummings, David Goodhart, Kerry Hardie, Dermot Healy, Michael Longley, Christina McKenna, James Ryan and last year’s Glen Dimplex New Writer of the Year, Alice Hogge.
No comments:
Post a Comment