Waterstones prize winner Elle McNicoll: ‘I never saw autistic girls in books’

The author was repeatedly told that no one wanted to read fun books with disabled heroes. Now she has won the £5,000 Waterstones children’s book prize for her debut, A Kind of SparkWhen Scottish author Elle McNicoll was first trying to enter the publishing world, she was repeatedly told that people didn’t want to read about an autistic heroine. “In job interviews, I was saying that I wanted to see more books with disabled characters in them that were not traumatic, boring or educational, but fun and full of life. A lot of the reactions were, ‘Waterstones don’t like books like that’,” she says.Now McNicoll’s debut novel A Kind of Spark has won the Waterstones children’s book prize. Published by tiny independent Knights Of, it follows Addie, an 11-year-old autistic girl, as she campaigns for a memorial to the witch trials that took place in her Scottish village. The novel has been praised by Waterstones’ booksellers as “eye opening, heart-wrenching, sad [and] inspiring”. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-07-01 05:01:05 UTC ]
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Strange sights: Oddest book title prize 2016 – in pictures

A photographic study of Soviet bus stops and a craft manual for flexible children go head to head with a cultural history of the anus on the shortlist for the 38th Diagram prizeDiagram prize: oddest book title shortlist gets behind cultural history of the anus Continue reading... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year

The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year was originally conceived in 1978 by Trevor Bounford and Bruce Robertson of The Diagram Group as a way to avoid boredom at the Frankfurt Book Fair. It was first awarded to Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oddest book title prize shortlist gets behind cultural history of the anus

Reading From Behind lines up for public vote alongside works including Soviet Bus Stops and Paper Folding With ChildrenIt might sound like a pain in the behind to read, but an academic tome about the cultural history of the anus is among the contenders on the shortlist for the 2016 Diagram prize... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trans Vampire Nuns book up for prize

A consideration of cult films and a photographic history of Soviet bus stops are among the contenders for an award given to the year's oddest book title. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2016-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oscar's First Book Prize opens for entries

The Evening Standard has launched the Oscar’s First Book Prize 2016 and is inviting UK publishers to submit entries. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-02-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Legendary publisher Klaus Flugge launches picture book prize

New picture book prize will recognise exciting newcomersKlaus Flugge, the publisher who launched the careers of some of our best-loved picture book illustrators, from Quentin Blake and Chris Riddell to David McKee, Tony Ross, Michael Foreman and Emma Chichester Clark, is launching his own book... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-01-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones reveals New Year Book Club titles

Two Weidenfeld & Nicolson titles and the Desmond Elliott Prize winner are among the eight novels to have made it onto the Waterstones New Year Book Club, commencing in January. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Prize Winner Is Hot in France

After winning France’s most prestigious literary award, the Prix Goncourt, early in November, "Compass" by Mathias Enard moved up to the third spot in the country’s fiction bestseller list at the end of the month. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Winners and losers: publishers pick the 2015 books they loved, missed and envied

Which books did well, which were left on the shelves, and which made editors green with envy?Visit bookshop.theguardian.com to browse all these books or call 0330 333 6846. 20p from every book you buy until Christmas will be donated to our Charity Appeal.The book that made my year: In a year... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stephen Spender winner withdraws entry, returns prize money

The winner of the 2015 Stephen Spender Prize for poetry in translation, Allen Prowle, has withdrawn his entries and returned the prize money, amid claims of "blatant plagiarism". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Portico prize winner Benjamin Myers: 'Why bother chasing the big publishers?'

After being turned down by ‘every major publisher in London’ for his Portico winning novel Beastings, the author says landing the £10,000 prize ‘felt like a vindication’ Benjamin Myers, who has beaten Alan Garner to win the £10,000 Portico prize for literature for his novel Beastings, has spoken... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Girl on Train named WHS 'Book of the Year'

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Doubleday) has been named as the WH Smith ‘Book of the Year’. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fox fable beats bestsellers to book prize

A fable about friendship and loss by a debut author beats bestselling novels The Girl on the Train and Go Set a Watchman to be named Waterstones Book of the Year. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2015-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children's 'elegant fable' wins Waterstones Book of the Year

Children’s book The Fox and the Star by aPenguin cover designer Coralie Bickford-Smith has beaten Harper Lee and Paula Hawkins to be crowned The Waterstones Book of the Year 2015. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones’ Buy Books for Syria campaign surpasses half-way mark

Waterstones has hit the half-way point in its Buy Books for Syria campaign, having raised £500,000 through book sales to help those affected by the conflict in the Middle East. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ta-Nehisi Coates, Adam Johnson take prizes at the 2015 National Book Awards

Coates' 'Between the World and Me' and Johnson's 'Fortune Smiles' won the nonfiction and fiction awards, respectively, at this year's National Book Awards. Johnson's work is the second short story collection in two years to win the fiction prize. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Monique Schwitter Wins Swiss Book Prize

Monique Schwitter has won the 2015 Swiss Book Prize for her book, One in the Other. She will receive 30,000 Swiss francs in prize winnings. The post Monique Schwitter Wins Swiss Book Prize appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW Best Books Twitter Contest: We Have A Winner

We asked our readers to pick their favorite book of 2015 and spread the word on Twitter. Congrats to our winner, @MitchRappFans, whose pick won the most retweets. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterstones reveals 'richly diverse' Book of the Year shortlist

The shortlist for the Waterstones Book of the Year 2015 has been revealed, featuring a list that would  "not have been produced by an algorithm,” the chain's m.d. James Daunt has said. The eight-strong selection nominated by Waterstones booksellers across the UK encompasses four novels, three... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chen Bochui Picture Book Award Winners Announced in Shanghai

Ahead of the Shanghai International Children's Book Fair, which runs November 13–15, the winners of the first Chen Bochui International Children's Literature Award were announced today at the Baoshan International Folk Arts Exposition. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-11-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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