Newsletter: February 2008

Last month the book prize buzz was all about the 2007 Costa Book Awards.
A.L. Kennedy's fifth novel Day was announced the overall winner, beating Catherine O'Flynn's What Was Lost (best first novel), Jean Sprackland's Tilt (best poetry collection), Simon Sebag Montefiore's Young Stalin (best biography), and Ann Kelley's The Bower Bird (best children's book). Kennedy collected a cheque for £25,000 after Chair of the Judges Joanna Trollope called the book 'a perfectly and beautifully written novel', adding, 'she is an extraordinary stylist.' Read the EnCompass interview, or The Times interview, with A.L. Kennedy.

 Photo: The Times

The Costas weren't the only prizes given out though. Sean O'Brien picked up yet another gong for his latest collection of poetry, The Drowned Book (our EnCompass Book of the Month choice in November). This time it was the prestigious T.S. Eliot Prize, for which O'Brien beat off a strong field to win. You can also read the EnCompass interview with Sean O'Brien. Oh yes, all the best writers talk to us you know...

 Photo: Caroline Forbes

You'll remember that back in October Doris Lessing was announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Unable to travel to Stockholm because of ill health, the prize came to London and was awarded at a special event at the Wallace Collection. You can watch a nice little video about it on The Guardian website. Did you know Lessing is only the 11th woman to win the prize in its 106-year history?

In other news, Arts Council England have been geting a lot of bad press recently as a result of proposed funding cuts to arts organisations. Most recently, it's been confirmed that the independent publisher Dedalus Books and the east London literature centre Centerprise, will have their funding cut. There was a fear that Arcadia Books and Anvil Press would also have their subsidies reduced, but these decisions have now been overturned. There is much talk of legal challenges, so we'll have to see what happens over the coming months. Find out more.

Susan Tranter

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