Newsletter: April 2008

They say there's no such thing as bad publicity. But over the last month three writers found themselves the subject of a lot of media coverage in the UK - and not all of it was exactly planned...

Prolific fantasy writer Terry Pratchett announced that he was donating almost half a million pounds to research into Alzheimer's disease, and used the opportunity to criticize the existing levels of government funding. The Discworld creator had been diagnosed with the condition three months previously, and says it is already starting to affect his work. Incidentally, did you know that Pratchett is the most shoplifted author in the UK?

 Terry Pratchett

The tributes poured in when news broke that Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction writer still best known for his collaboration with Stanley Kubrick on 2001: A Space Odyssey, had died aged 90. Three days of commemoration were held in in Sri Lanka, where he had lived since 1956.

 Arthur C. Clarke (photo: Amy Marash)

Then there was novelist Tim Lott, who created all his own little media frenzy by writing an article which branded the Orange Prize for Fiction as a 'sexist con trick'. Lott promptly found himself the subject of national radio coverage, newspaper interviews, and some branding all of his own (most notably as a 'Bitter Unhappy Misogynist', or BUM for short). All of which... created some great publicity for the Orange Prize.

 Tim Lott (photo: Viking)

While we're on the subject of prizes, there are a few winners and shortlists to mention.

The winners of the regional stage of the Commonwealth Writers Prizes have been announced. Indra Sinha's Animal's People, previously shortlsted for the Man Booker Prize, took the prize for best book in the Europe and Asia region, while A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam, shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, was named best first book.

Banipal picked up the accolade for the 2008 Incwriters Outstanding Contribution to Literature (Magazines), awarded every two years to 'a magazine or magazines that have shown a commitment to publishing quality in both content and style'. Banipal, which has been showcasing the best of new Arab writing for ten years, will receive free advertising support worth up to £2,000. 

The Royal Society of Literature has named the shortlisted titles for this year's Ondaatje Prize. They are: Darkmans by Nicola Barker, Paradise with Serpents by Robert Carver, The Whisperers by Orlando Figes, On Brick Lane by Rachel Lichtenstein, Sea Holly by Robert Minhinnick, and The Discovery of France by Graham Robb. The winner will be announced on 28th April.

And finally, Arthur C. Clarke may be gone, but his memory lives on - not just in his books but in the shape of the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction. The shortlist for this year's award has just been announced, and includes a couple of titles championed on EnCompass: The Red Men by Matthew de Abaitua, The H-Bomb Girl by Stephen Baxter, The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall, The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, The Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod, and Black Man by Richard Morgan.

 
Susan Tranter

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