Desmond Elliott Prize
The Desmond Elliott Prize is an annual award for the best debut novel written in English and published in the UK.[1] The winning novel can be from any genre of fiction and must exhibit depth and breadth with a compelling narrative.[2] The winner receives £10,000. The prize is named in honour of the distinguished late publisher and literary agent, Desmond Elliott.[3]
History and administration
The Desmond Elliott Prize was inaugurated at the bequest of Desmond Elliott, who died in August 2003. He stipulated that his literary estate should be invested in a charitable trust that would fund a literary award "to enrich the careers of new writers".[4] The prize is therefore dedicated to supporting and celebrating aspiring authors and their fiction.[5]
The Desmond Elliott Prize was launched in 2007 as a biennial award for a first novel published in the UK. The inaugural prize was won by Nikita Lalwani for her novel, Gifted, in June 2008.[6] After the successful launch of the prize, the trustees decided to make it an annual award.[7] Edward Hogan won the prize in 2009 for his novel Blackmoor,[8] Ali Shaw the 2010 prize for his novel The Girl with Glass Feet[9] and Anjali Joseph in 2011 for her novel Saraswati Park.[10]
The prize is administered by Emma Manderson and the trustees of The Desmond Elliott Charitable Trust, a UK charitable foundation.[11] The Trust is chaired by Dallas Manderson, Group Sales Director of the Orion Publishing Group. He is joined by Christine Berry, a partner in the charities group at Taylor Vinters, a Cambridge-based law firm, and Liz Thomson, Editor of BookBrunch. Both Dallas and Christine worked with Desmond Elliott at Arlington Books.
Judging
The panel of three judges, which changes each year, is selected by the trustees of the prize.
When selecting a winner, the judges look for a novel with a compelling narrative, arresting character, and which is both vividly written and confidently realised.[12]
Previous chairs of the prize include author Sam Llewellyn (2012), BBC broadcaster and presenter Edward Stourton (2011), and authors Elizabeth Buchan (2010), Candida Lycett Green (2009) and Penny Vincenzi (2008).
Rules and entry
The prize is awarded annually for the best first full-length work of fiction written in English published in book form in the UK, written by an author whose permanent place of residence is in the UK or Ireland. Entries are considered from all fiction genres.
The prize is selected from a longlist of 10 titles, followed by a shortlist of three outstanding books. For inclusion in this shortlist, a novel must have the full support of at least one judge in whose opinion it is a valid contender for the Prize. Each shortlisted author receives a hamper from Fortnum & Mason.
The winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize is announced at an awards ceremony held at Fortnum & Mason, Desmond Elliott's local grocer.[13]
Winners and shortlists
- 2008 Gifted by Nikita Lalwani (Penguin Books)
- Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Simon & Schuster)
- Sunday at The Cross Bones by John Walsh (Fourth Estate)
- 2009 Blackmoor by Edward Hogan (Simon & Schuster)
- A Girl Made of Dust by Nathalie Abi-Ezzi (Fourth Estate)
- The Rescue Man by Anthony Quinn (Jonathan Cape)
- 2010 The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw (Atlantic Books)
- Before the Earthquake by Maria Allen (Tindal Street Press)
- Talk of the Town by Jacob Polley (Picador)
- 2011 Saraswati Park by Anjali Joseph (Fourth Estate)
- 2012 The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen (Chatto & Windus)
- The Last Hundred Days by Patrick McGuinness (Seren)
- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce (Doubleday)
- 2013 The Marlowe Papers by Ros Barber (Macmillan)[14]
- The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan (Heinemann)
- The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence (Hodder & Stoughton)
- 2014 A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride (Gallery Beggar Press)[15]
- The Letter Bearer by Robert Allison (Granta)
- Ballistics by D.W. Wilson (Bloomsbury)
- 2015 Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller[16]
- Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
- A Song for Issy Bradley by Carys Bray
- 2016 The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney (John Murray)[17]
- Mrs. Engels by Gavin McCrea
- The House at the Edge of the World by Julia Rochester
References
- ↑ Richard Lea The Guardian
- ↑ Harper Collins
- ↑ "'Overnight success' in line for Desmond Elliott prize". Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- ↑ Katie Allen The Bookseller.com
- ↑ "Book Prize Information - Desmond Elliott Prize". Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- ↑ Amber Pearson Daily Mail
- ↑ Katie Allen The Bookseller.com
- ↑ "Leicester Square placard holder Edward Hogan becomes literary prize winner". Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- ↑ Maggie Hartford The Oxford Times
- ↑ Anupama Krishnakumar Spark Magazine
- ↑ "THE DESMOND ELLIOTT CHARITABLE TRUST :: OpenCharities". Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- ↑ Foyles
- ↑ "About the Prize - The Desmond Elliott Prize". 20 December 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
- ↑ Alison Flood (27 June 2013). "Desmond Elliott prize goes to former computer programmer". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
- ↑ "The 2014 Prize". The Desmond Elliott Prize. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
- ↑ "Claire Fuller wins debut-novel Desmond Elliott Prize". BBC News. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jun/22/lisa-mcinerneys-debut-novel-wins-desmond-elliott-prize-the-glorious-heresies