The Guardian view on arts prizes: a 20th-century phenomenon? | Editorial

This year’s Booker and Turner prizes tell us artists and even judges are repudiating the winner-takes-all award. It may be time to find new ways to celebrate the artsThe past year has been a curious one for cultural prizes. The Booker, when the judges failed to agree on a single winner, ended up being split between two authors, in a move that broke the rules and has been widely seen as a fudge. The Turner was upended, not by its judges but by its participants. The shortlisted artists asked to be considered as a collective; the result was that this year there were effectively four winners. Other prizes have seen winners splitting their winnings – author Olivia Laing, for example, voiced a similar sentiment to that put forward by the Turner artists, when she won the James Tait Black memorial prize for fiction this summer. Her novel, Crudo, she said, was written “against an era of walls and borders, winners and losers. Art doesn’t thrive like that and I don’t think people do either. We thrive on community, solidarity and mutual support.”It is too early to declare the death of arts prizes. But they are certainly showing some cracks. The James Tait Black is the oldest British literary award, dating back to 1919. But the most celebrated awards, the Booker and the Turner, date from the late 20th century – 1969 and 1984 respectively – and were made household names by institutional or industry backing, sponsorship and a presence on TV. The Costa prize, which started as the... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-12-15 18:25:01 UTC ]
News tagged with: #guardian view #put forward #dating back

Other Publishing stories related to: 'The Guardian view on arts prizes: a 20th-century phenomenon? | Editorial'


Three debut novels on Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize shortlist

Three debut novelists are in the running for the 2015 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic novels. Writer Caitlin Moran, actress Helen Lederer and Nina Stibbe have all made the shortlist for the prize, alongside Alexander McCall Smith, Irvine Welsh and Joseph O'Neill. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #debut novels #debut novelists #comic novels #nina stibbe #irvine welsh


Bologna Prize for the Best Children's Publisher of the Year

The winners for the Best Children's Publisher of the Year were announced in Sala Borsa in Bologna on Monday, March 30. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Page One’s 21st-Century Asian Bookstore Strategy

Singapore-based Page One's new bookstore concept in Hong Kong started by looking at what readers loved in books and building from there, says CEO Mark Tan. The post Page One’s 21st-Century Asian Bookstore Strategy appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Uglow and Bostridge on PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize shortlist

Jenny Uglow and Mark Bostridge are among the five authors shortlisted for the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History 2015. The £2,000 prize, funded from former PEN member Marjorie Hessell-Tiltman’s bequest to English PEN, celebrates the best non-fiction on a historical subject from any period up... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #authors shortlisted #english pen #historical subject #world war


Strangers Have the Best Candy wins Diagram Prize

Self-published title Strangers Have the Best Candy has won the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year. In the closest vote since the prize was opened to public voting in 2000, Margaret Meps Schulte's travelogue won with 26.1% of the vote, just ahead of Diana Rajchel's Divorcing a Real... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #diagram prize


Penguin book picks up book prize

A book about a penguin who flies to the tropics with the aid of a kite is named the winner of the 2015 Waterstones Children's Book Prize. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book prize


Travel book wins odd title prize

A self-published travelogue called Strangers Have the Best Candy wins the Diagram Prize for oddest book title of the year. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #diagram prize


Rob Biddulph wins Waterstones ​children’s book prize 2015 with debut book Blown Away

The tale of a misplaced penguin scoops the overall prize for new and emerging authors, with Sally Green taking the teen category and Robin Stevens winning the younger fiction awardSee Rob Biddulph’s step-by-step guide to How to draw… a windy dayAn adventure story about Penguin Blue and his... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #emerging authors #step-by-step guide #waterstones children #rob biddulph #observer magazine #art director


Biddulph wins Waterstones Children’s Book Prize

Rob Biddulph was today (26th March) announced as the overall winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, as well as the best illustrated book category. Biddulph, who is also the art director of the Observer magazine, won the prize for Blown Away (HarperCollins Children’s Books), about a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book prize #rob biddulph #waterstones children #art director #observer magazine #harpercollins children #picture book


Man Booker International Prize 2015 Finalist’s List Announced

Authors representing 10 countries — 6 countries for the first time — are included on the shortlist for the Man Booker International Prize. The post Man Booker International Prize 2015 Finalist’s List Announced appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Booker prize maestro Martyn Goff dies aged 91

Literary world mourns the driving force behind the UK’s most prestigious books award Martyn Goff, the ‘master of tactical indiscretion’ who shaped the Booker prize into one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards, has died at the age of 91.Goff, who died on Wednesday after a long... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #martyn goff #driving force #long illness #english fiction #bookseller announced


Blackstaff Press 'devastated' to have Arts Council funding withdrawn

Northern Ireland publisher Blackstaff Press  said it is “devastated” to learn its Arts Council funding has been withdrawn and is “absorbing the shock” of the news. The independent press, which has been running since 1971, said it found out its funding had been slashed from £82,200 to zero for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #blackstaff press #independent press


Man Booker International Prize finalists revealed

Ten authors have been named as finalists for the Man Booker International Prize 2015, representing countries including Hungary, Guadeloupe, and the Republic of Congo. Each writer is now in the running to win a £60,000 prize, with the winner announced in a ceremony at the Victoria and Albert... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #winner announced #albert museum


A View of What “Our Possible Media Futures” Might Look Like, Out of The New York Times’ R&D Lab

Last night’s news about news orgs publishing directly to Facebook wasn’t a surprise, exactly — we’ve known this was in the works for months — but it’s been a good excuse to think about the p ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #months mdash


Shortlist revealed for Bloomsbury/NLT prize

Bloomsbury and the National Literacy Trust have shortlisted six writers for a competition to find unpublished children’s authors. Bloomsbury received 400 entries to this year’s New Children’s Author Prize, launched last year, which asks aspiring authors to pay £30 to enter in order to raise... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #shortlist revealed #author prize #raise money


Johnny Marr autobiography to Century

Century has acquired, in a “hotly contested auction”, the autobiography of Johnny Marr, co-founder of The Smiths. Marr founded The Smiths alongside Morrissey, before going on to create  super-group Electronic with Bernard Sumner of New Order. He worked in bands including The Pretenders, The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #solo career


Inaugural Folio Prize lecture cancelled

The inaugural Folio Prize lecture by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie had to be cancelled after the author fell ill. The lecture was due to take place at The British Library on Friday (20th March) as part of the Folio Prize Fiction Festival weekend of events. But Ngozi was unable to travel to London... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #british library #short notice


Akhil Sharma wins Folio Prize

Akhil Sharma has won the 2015 Folio Prize for Fiction for his novel Family Life (Faber & Faber). The prize, now in its second year, was awarded at a ceremony at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel in London this evening (23rd March). The Folio Prize aims to recognise and celebrate the best... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #akhil sharma


BEA Children’s Art Auction to Honor Judy Blume

The auction, which will be held May 26, supports ABFE’s defense of the free speech rights of kids. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #art auction #bea children


Louise O'Neill wins inaugural YA Book Prize

Louise O’Neill was yesterday (19th March) announced as the winner of the inaugural YA Book Prize. The Irish author was given the £2,000 award at a ceremony at Foyles’ flagship bookshop in Charing Cross, London, for her debut novel Only Ever Yours (Quercus), a dystopian, feminist satire on how... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #irish author #flagship bookshop #charing cross