Shock ending: how the Costa book awards changed reading – and pitted husband against wife

After 50 years, the prize has been scrapped. How did it change Britain’s literary landscape? And what happened at the awards when Margaret Drabble was seated next to Theresa May?Margaret Drabble was a bright young star with five novels to her name in 1971, when she was talked into joining her old friend JB Priestley on the judging panel for a new book prize. “Jack told me that I should spend the fee (which came in wine) by choosing some very nice half-bottles to drink by myself, which I did,” she recalls.Drabble argued for a biography of the playwright Henrik Ibsen, Priestley was keen on a novel by Gerda Charles, and their fellow judge, the critic Anthony Thwaite, championed a poetry collection by Geoffrey Hill. The glory of the new, brewery-sponsored awards was that all three could have prizes, so it all went swimmingly, with none of the squabbles that had already begun to bedevil the Booker, launched two years earlier. These arguments had included one over the literary quality of a certain Margaret Drabble, who (according to Booker judge Dame Rebecca West) would insist on lowering the tone by writing about the washing-up. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2022-06-23 05:00:38 UTC ]
News tagged with: #literary landscape #margaret drabble #judging panel #poetry collection #costa book

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Indies dominate Costa Book Award winners

Indies dominate the Costa Book Awards 2020 category winners, with two Faber & Faber authors among the victors—Natasha Farrant and Ingrid Persaud—along with Monique Roffey, Lee Lawrence, and the late Eavan Boland. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-04 11:53:28 UTC ]
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Bill Gates says to read these 5 books for ‘a change of pace’ this holiday season

The billionaire philanthropist offers some recommendations to get you through the final stretches of quarantine. While Bill Gates’s 2020 summer reading list concentrated on the pandemic and its economic repercussions, the Microsoft founder opted for a “change of pace” in considering his... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2020-12-08 11:00:59 UTC ]
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Here is the shortlist for the 2020 Costa Book Awards.

The Costa Book Awards, inaugurated in 1971, are a set of annual literary awards, which recognize and honor British and Irish writers of the English language. The Award comes with £5,000, and the winner from each category will be announced on January 4th. This year, Evan Boland’s posthumous... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-25 16:01:53 UTC ]
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The Costa Book Awards Program Announces Its 2020 Shortlists

Twenty writers from the United Kingdom and Ireland have been chosen from an initial pool of 708 Costa Book Award entries. The post The Costa Book Awards Program Announces Its 2020 Shortlists appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-11-25 14:14:19 UTC ]
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Tell Us Your Favorite Fall Food and We’ll Tell You What National Book Award Nominee to Read

Autumn means changing leaves, apple-based baked goods, decorative gourds, pumpkin spice lattes—and an avalanche of literary award longlists. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the must-read National Book Award nominees you’re now realizing you didn’t read, why not base your TBR pile off of... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-09-25 11:00:06 UTC ]
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Changing the story with Hashtag BLAK and The Diverse Book Awards

I am a Black author and publisher in an industry that is dominated by white people. Black Lives Matter is not a hashtag. It is a movement that will carry on until we have seen real change. It is being said time and time again but there is still not enough representation in the publishing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-11 01:22:51 UTC ]
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Amanda Johnson named new director of Costa Book Awards

Costa Coffee has appointed Amanda Johnson as the new director of the Costa Book Awards, succeeding Bud McLintock, who stepped down from the role after 25 years in February.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-31 13:23:03 UTC ]
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Collins and Coe triumph at Costa Book Awards 2019

Sara Collins has won the Costa First Novel Award for her gothic romance, The Confessions of Frannie Langton (Viking), in a stellar year for début authors after three out of the five award categories were won by first-time writers.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-06 21:35:49 UTC ]
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Costa Book Awards Names Its 2019 Category Winners

With a total purse of £60,000 (US$79,000), the Costa Book Awards' first winners are in the five categories. One of this group will be named the overall winner on January 28. The post Costa Book Awards Names Its 2019 Category Winners appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-01-06 19:30:25 UTC ]
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Blackman and Carty Williams compete on Costa Book Award shortlists

Candice Carty-Williams, Malorie Blackman and Rowan Hisayo Buchanan are among the 20 authors shortlisted for this year’s Costa Book Awards. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-11-26 21:14:59 UTC ]
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Epica Awards’ Longtime Book Editor on How Creativity Keeps Changing

A jury of advertising journalists from around the world is convening in Amsterdam this week to select the best ads of the year--an honor distinct for two reasons. It's the only show judged by an impartial jury, meaning no brands or agencies vote. And it comes at both the end and the beginning of... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2019-11-19 22:51:24 UTC ]
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Bookseller judges announced for Costa Book Awards

Booksellers from WH Smith, Waterstones, Sam Read Books, Libreria and West End Lane Books are to join judging panels for The Costa Book Awards 2019. The booksellers will select shortlists and decide the winners across five categories, in a year which sees the highest number of submissions to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-17 00:41:12 UTC ]
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NZ considers changes to copyright law as part of promise to help end global 'book famine'

An estimated 90% of all written works worldwide are not available in accessible formats. New Zealand is implementing the Marrakesh Treaty to help change that. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2019-07-23 20:01:52 UTC ]
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Joyce and Humble join Costa Book Awards judging panel

Writer and broadcaster Kate Humble and novelist Rachel Joyce will join the final judging panel which selects the overall winner of the 2018 Costa Book of the Year. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Axe the reading tax': book industry demands end to VAT on ebooks

Following EU directive that allows governments to waive duty on digital publications, calls grow for the UK to end ‘illogical and unfair’ levyThe UK government is being urged to axe the “illogical and unfair” 20% tax currently imposed on ebooks, while print books remain exempt, after European... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The UK’s Costa Book Awards Shortlists: Half Debuts, £35,000 in Prize Money

The Costa Book Awards for 2018 drew a record 641 entries across the program's five categories. In January, the five category winners will be announced, followed  by the overall winner's ceremony. The post The UK’s Costa Book Awards Shortlists: Half Debuts, £35,000 in Prize Money appeared first... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2018-11-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Costa Book of the Year: Helen Dunmore wins another award

Helen Dunmore's poetry collection, Inside the Wave, wins 2018's Costa Book of the Year prize. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2018-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ockham NZ Book Awards pick the year's best Kiwi reads for longlist

Kiwis looking for a summer read should take a "risk" on a book from the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist, one of the awards' organisers says. Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2017-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On eve of Costa awards, experts warn that top books prizes are harming fiction

The dominance of three honours in the UK can be prohibitively expensive for small publishers, and end up discouraging risk-taking on ‘difficult’ authorsCutting-edge British literary fiction risks being undermined by its growing reliance on a handful of powerful book prizes, a leading literary... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Women Lead The Five Costa Book Award Shortlists

Two-thirds of the shortlisted candidates in the UK's Costa Book Awards are women. And three in one category are former winners. The post Women Lead The Five Costa Book Award Shortlists appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-11-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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