Congratulations to Nathan Filer whose debut novel The Shock of the Fall has just won the Costa Book of the Year Award.
Filer wins £30,000 with each of the other finalists: Kate Atkinson, Michael Symmons Roberts, Lucy Hughes-Hallett and Chris Riddell, picking up a cheque for £5,000. He was obviously shocked by his success as he stumbled through a short ‘thank you’ to his wife. He told guest he hadn’t prepared a speech having checked the betting odds earlier.
A little late reporting this, but just some brief comments on a great London Book Fair. Fascinating to see the digital section continuing to eat up more and more floor space. PEN, as usual, hosted a great range of interviews, but sometimes difficult to hear with the Russians opposite trying to shout down the speaker for their own benefit.
Always a delight to talk to Louise Jordan of the Writers’ Advice Centre for Children’s Books. She’s a mine of information & comment. Always keen to meet new people so well worth potential writers checking her website www.writersadvice.co.uk This has nothing to do with the never-ending bowl of chocolates she had on her stand!
Can there be a market for all the books on display in the Children’s Zone. Judging by visitor interest and the packed talks in the Children’s Innovation Theatre, certainly.
Swedish Made
It’s always interesting to talk with overseas publishers – in this case Fill and Tell AB over from their offices in Sweden. Stand manager Katrine Konar introduced me to Låba – a wonderful little character who endeared himself to me straight away.
These little interactive books, featuring Fredrik Einvall’s illustrations, were magic. Perhaps a distributor over here will find him quirky enough to take on board. Let’s hope their visit to LBF 2013 was worthwhile and we see them all back again next year.
Booki Reader
Watch out for this 8″ touch-screen e-reader aimed at 2 to 6 year olds. It should be hitting the marketplace in September. Shaped like a bear it includes voice recording and comes with 30 titles pre-installed. It’s Android based with 8Gb of flash memory check out www.bookiworld.com
Cup Cake Mania
Our insatiable appetite for cup cakes brought eager visitors to Make Believe Ideas stand who were promoting Camilla the Cupcake Fairy as well as an enchanting Mouston Abbey book . Their spring catalogue features some amazing sticker books complete with carrying handles!
Fairies Jane & Hannah tempt visitors to the stand with freshly made cup cakes decorated while-u-wait.
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Filed under Kids, Readers, Writers, Writing for Kids
Out of 13,041 entires, Patricia McCarthy’s ‘Clothes that escaped the Great War’ is the Winner of the National Poetry Competition.
Judges Vicki Feaver, W N Herbert and Nick Laird were initially struck by the surprising title of McCarthy’s work, but were soon captivated by this atmospheric poem based on a story her own mother told her – a memory of something she had witnessed as a small girl in Yorkshire, during the First World War.
Patricia McCarthy becomes the 36th person to win the Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition since it began in 1978. The competition has been an important milestone in the careers of many of today’s leading poets and recognises an individual poem, previously unpublished, in an anonymised judging process. The judges only discover the identity of the winners after making their final decision. Take a look at http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk
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