Sometimes I think there are more literary prizes around then anyone can hope to keep up to date with. This last month has certainly been no exception. But here at EnCompass we trawl through the winners and the shortlists so that you don't have to. So sit back and prepare to be thoroughly updated...
 For the first time in its long and distinguished history, the Carnegie Medal for children's writing has been awarded posthumously. Siobhan Dowd's winning book Bog Child was completed three months before she died of cancer in 2007.
Find out more.
Meanwhile Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski scooped the inaugural Gemmell Award for fantasy writing with his book Blood of Elves (not Blood of Elvis, as I found I'd typed by mistake the other day. That
would be a different book altogether...). Over 10,000 fantasy fans
from 75 countries voted for their favourite from a shortlist of five titles.
Find out more.
 A book about a life-long obsession with whales inspired by the literary classic Moby-Dick has won the UK’s most prestigious non-fiction prize. Leviathan, or The Whale by Philip Hoare, was named winner of the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2009.
Find out more.
Marilynne Robinson won the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction with her novel Home. Fi Glover, chair of the judging panel, said: 'This year's winner has a luminous quality to it that has drawn all of the
judges to a unanimous decision. The profound nature of the writing
stood out, as has the ability of writer to draw the reader into a world
of hope expectation, misunderstanding, love and kindness.' Couldn't
agree more.
Find out more.
 Edward Hogan nabbed this year's Desmond Elliott award with his novel Blackmoor. The prize celebrates impressive debut novels, and is worth a not-to-be-sniffed-at £10,000.
Find out more.
It's good to see new poets getting recognised too. The inaugural Michael Marks award for the best poetry pamphlet was won by Elizabeth Burns with The Shortest Days. Ian McMillan, chair of the judging panel, said: 'Elizabeth Burns is an outstanding winner from
a very strong shortlist because of the maturity and completeness of
the work, which fits the pamphlet form perfectly.'
Find out more.
 Independent publisher Canongate was named Publisher of the Year at the British Book Industry Awards (also known as the 'Nibbies'). WHSmith picked up the Retailer of the Year award, and Saqi Books received the Diversity Award in Literature for their impressively multilingual and multicultural output. Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News? won the Richard and Judy Best Read of the Year prize.
Find out more.
The talented and wonderful Tim Winton picked up this year's Miles Franklin Award - Australia's top literary prize - for his novel Breath. He has now won the award four times.
Find out more.
Read the EnCompass Author Interview with Tim Winton.
 And last but by no means least, Deborah Kay Davies won the
£10,000 Wales Book of the Year 2009 award with her debut collection of short stories Grace, Tamar and Laszlo the Beautiful (which deserves it for the title alone, if you ask me). Wiliam Owen Roberts won the Welsh language prize for his novel Petrograd.
Find out more.
Susan Tranter
Published 01/07/2009 | 
