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'


Survey says: the Booker is the most important literary prize in the world.

An interesting dispatch from prize world: as The Bookseller reported, a new international survey conducted by Nielsen Book shows publishers, writers, booksellers and media consider the Booker Prize the “most important” literary prize. The Booker’s status isn’t completely out of left field, but... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-12-23 20:28:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #booker prize #bookseller reported #nielsen book #bookseller #literary prize


As George Washington’s farming techniques evolved, so did his views on slavery

What the first president’s own documents reveal about his life and work as a farmer. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-12-17 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #george washington #documents reveal


Krauss, de Waal and Puchner make Wingate Prize longlist

Edmund de Waal, Nicole Krauss and Martin Puchner are among 13 authors longlisted for the Wingate Literary Prize with their "powerful expressions of the diversity of Jewish experience". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-15 22:46:16 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #nicole krauss #de waal #literary prize


Andrews appointed to new role of academy manager for Rathbones Folio Prize

Tanya Andrews has been appointed to the newly created role of Folio Academy manager for the Rathbones Folio Prize. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-15 20:09:41 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Humphery and Parfitt join Sceptre's editorial team

Vintage’s Charlotte Humphery and Oxford University Press' Nico Parfitt are joining Sceptre’s editorial team in newly created roles.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-15 14:10:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #editorial team


LoveReading LitFest to become free-to-view

The LoveReading LitFest, which launched in March this year, has announced it is moving away from a members-only subscription model to become free to view. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-15 08:23:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #subscription model


Ohayon wins V S Pritchett Short Story Prize

Leeor Ohayon has won the £1,000 V S Pritchett Short Story Prize for his "tender, moving" tale "Gahnun on Shabbat". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-15 00:36:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Profile lands Kars' Cundhill History Prize-winning history of Guyanese revolt

Profile has acquired the Cundill History Prize-winning Blood on the River: A Chronicle of Mutiny and Freedom on the Wild Coast, a "gripping and immersive" work of history uncovering a little-known slave revolt, by Marjoleine Kars. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-13 00:06:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #slave revolt


Toutoungi wins Ledbury Munthe Poetry Prize for Second Collections

Claudine Toutoungi has won the Ledbury Munthe Poetry Prize for Second Collections, with her "offbeat and utterly original" Two Tongues (Carcanet).  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-10 17:23:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Shortlist for inaugural Jericho Prize revealed

The shortlist has been revealed for the inaugural Jericho Prize for Children's Writing, a competition for unpublished and self-published Black British writers.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-10 17:14:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Little A acquires 'powerful' memoir from Polari Prize founder Burston

Little A, the literary fiction and non-fiction imprint of Amazon Publishing, has acquired a "powerful" memoir by Paul Burston, founder of the Polari Prize, the UK’s first and largest LGBTQ+ book award. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-09 09:18:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #non-fiction imprint #amazon publishing #polari prize #literary fiction #memoir


Harkness wins Tony Lothian Prize for proposal on Macmillan

Sarah Harkness has won the Tony Lothian Prize for her "sympathetic" biography proposal "Alexander Macmillan, Advocate for the Ignorant – The Life and Times of a Victorian Publisher". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-08 23:14:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Debuts dominate £10k Portico Prize shortlist

The shortlist for the Portico Prize for Literature has been revealed, featuring four debuts as well as titles from Andrew Hagan and Jenn Ashworth. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-06 04:59:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #portico prize


Northern Writers’ Awards open with new prize from Myers

The Northern Writers’ Awards has opened for submissions with a chance to win a share of £40,000 in development opportunities as former winner Benjamin Myers (pictured) launches a new short story category.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-12-03 20:45:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #northern writers


A room with a view

Last week The Bookseller held its first face-to-face event for 18 months: the FutureBook Conference took place on Friday 19th November, with about 250 delegates, speakers, sponsors, colleagues and volunteers at the event space at 155 Bishopsgate joining the more than 600 individuals who watched... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-26 13:12:27 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #futurebook conference #bookseller


Williams takes University of Wales Press into second century with ambitious plans

The University of Wales Press, which is gearing up to toast its centenary in 2022, has two titles celebrating the landmark and plans to launch a ‘start-up’ from within its operations. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-26 05:37:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ambitious plans #wales press


Mullins joins Yale's Little Histories series with art edition

Yale University Press is gearing up to publish A Little History of Art by Charlotte Mullins, an "exciting" addition to the press' Little Histories series. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-25 07:18:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Hay and Women's Prize win Culture Recovery Fund cash

The Hay Festival and the Women's Prize are some of the literature organisations to have benefitted from the latest round of the government’s Culture Recovery Fund administered through Arts Council England.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-22 05:55:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hay festival #literature organisations #latest round


New York’s Midcentury Art Scene Springs to Life in ‘The Loft Generation’

Edith Schloss’s memoir recounts an era of great creative vitality and the time she spent with Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Merce Cunningham, Leo Castelli and others. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2021-11-21 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir recounts #merce cunningham #memoir


Singh and Mosse reveal opposition faced by Women's and Jhalak Prize

Kate Mosse and Sunny Singh have revealed the opposition facing their book prizes, with people at first accusing the Jhalak of "diluting literary merit". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-20 05:15:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jhalak prize #sunny singh #kate mosse #book prizes