- Small Island triumphs in Whitbread Novel Award
- Outsider Eve Green beats Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell to take Whitbread First Novel Award
- Geraldine McCaughrean scoops third Whitbread Children’s Book Award
Whitbread today announced the 2004 Whitbread Book Award winners - Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book. The Whitbread Book Awards, which were established by the UK’s leading hospitality business in 1971, have the single aim of celebrating the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland.
The five successful authors who will now contest for the Whitbread Book of the Year are:
· 2004 Orange Prize winner Andrea Levy for Small Island in the Novel Award category
· Susan Fletcher for Eve Green, who wins the First Novel Award
· My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots by John Guy, which claims the Biography Award
· Award-winning radio writer and documentary filmmaker, Michael Symmons Roberts, who wins the Poetry Award with Corpus
· Triple Children’s Book Award winner, Geraldine McCaughrean, for Not the End of the World
Alan Parker, chief executive of Whitbread PLC, said: “Once again, our judges have selected five terrific books from the different categories as Award winners. Our final judges will have a really tough time selecting just one from these five for the title of Whitbread Book of the Year - but it all makes for an exciting awards ceremony later on this month.”
The five Whitbread Book Award winners, each of whom will receive £5,000, were selected from 450 entries. The five books are now eligible for the ultimate prize – the 2004 Whitbread Book of the Year. The winner will be announced at The Brewery, in central London on Tuesday 25th January, 2005 by a panel of judges chaired by multi-award-winning newscaster, Sir Trevor McDonald OBE.
For the second year running, members of the public can vote via this website, for which of the five books they would select as Whitbread Book of the Year. Everyone who votes will be entered into a free prize draw to win a set of the category winners. A chart showing the most hotly-tipped book according to the public vote will also be available on the website.
The Whitbread Book Awards, in partnership with the National Reading Campaign, CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals), amazon.co.uk and the Booksellers Association, continue to explore new ways of promoting the enjoyment of reading in the UK.
This year, Whitbread has joined forces with the National Library for the Blind (NLB) and will fund the Braille transcription of two 2004 Whitbread Award winning books, which will include the Whitbread Book of the Year, plus if different, the Whitbread Children's Book Award winner. Helen Brazier, NLB's Chief Executive, said: "Fewer than five per cent of books published in the UK are ever produced in a format that visually impaired people can read. We are currently making huge efforts to improve access to Braille books and very much welcome Whitbread's support."
Whitbread PLC, which was originally founded in 1742, is the UK's leading hospitality business, managing some of the UK's strongest brands in hotels, restaurants and racquets, health and fitness clubs. The 50,000 people who work in Whitbread’s businesses serve 10 million customers each month at more than 1,400 locations across the UK.
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2004 Whitbread Book Awards Winners
Whitbread Novel Award: Small Island by Andrea Levy
Whitbread First Novel Award: Eve Green by Susan Fletcher
Whitbread Biography Award: My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots by John Guy
Whitbread Poetry Award: Corpus by Michael Symmons Roberts
Whitbread Children’s Book Award: Not the End of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean
Previous Winners of the Whitbread Book of the Year
2003 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (Novel)
2002 Samuel Pepys:The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin (Biography)
2001 The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (Children’s Book)
2000 English Passengers by Matthew Kneale (Novel)
1999 Beowulf by Seamus Heaney (Poetry)
1998 Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes (Poetry)
1997 Tales from Ovid by Ted Hughes (Poetry)
1996 The Spirit Level by Seamus Heaney (Poetry)
1995 Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson (First Novel)
1994 Felicia's Journey by William Trevor (Novel)
1993 Theory of War by Joan Brady (Novel)
1992 Swing Hammer Swing! by Jeff Torrington (First Novel)
1991 A Life of Picasso by John Richardson (Biography)
1990 Hopeful Monsters by Nicholas Mosley (Novel)
1989 Coleridge: Early Visions by Richard Holmes (Biography)
1988 The Comforts of Madness by Paul Sayer (First Novel)
1987 Under the Eye of the Clock by Christopher Nolan (Biography)
1986 An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (Novel)
1985 Elegies by Douglas Dunn (Poetry)
2004 Whitbread Novel Award
Small Island by Andrea Levy
Review
About the book:
It is 1948 in an England that is still shaken by war. Queenie Bligh takes into her house lodgers who have recently arrived from Jamaica. Among her tenants are Gilbert and his new wife Hortense. Gilbert Joseph was one of the several thousand Jamaican men who joined the war to fight against Hitler. On returning to England after the war he finds himself treated very differently now that he is no longer in a blue uniform. Queenie’s neighbours do not approve of her choice of tenants, and neither would her husband were he there.
About the author:
Andrea Levy works and lives in London, and has used the city as the setting in all her novels. Small Island is her fourth novel and won the 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction. Besides novels she has also written short stories that have been read on radio, published in newspapers and anthologised.
What the Whitbread judges said:
“What could have been a didactic or preachy prospect turns out to be hilarious, moving, humane and eye-popping. It’s hard to think of anybody not enjoying it.”
Judges:
Toby Bourne Buyer Books, ASDA
Jenny Colgan Writer
Amanda Craig Author
Shortlist, selected from a total of 124 entries:
Kate Atkinson: Case Histories Doubleday
Louis de Bernières: Birds Without Wings Secker and Warburg
Alan Hollinghurst: The Line of Beauty Picador
Previous Whitbread Novel Award winners include:
Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time 2003
Michael Frayn: Spies 2002
Patrick Neate: Twelve Bar Blues 2001
2004 Whitbread First Novel Award
Eve Green by Susan Fletcher
Harper Perennial
About the book:
Following the loss of her mother, eight-year-old Evie is sent to a new life in rural Wales – a dripping place, where flowers appear mysteriously on doorsteps and people look at her twice. With a sense of being lied to, she sets out to discover her family’s dark secret – unaware that there is yet more darkness to come with the sinister disappearance of local girl Rosemary Hughes.
About the author:
Susan Fletcher was born in 1979 in Birmingham. She recently graduated from the prestigious UEA Creative Writing course and now lives in Stratford-upon-Avon.
What the Whitbread judges said:
“With a luminous quality of writing which lifts it out of the category of a simple coming-of-age novel into something approaching poetry, Eve Green immediately stood out for all the judges and will appeal to readers of any sex and age. Beautifully written and hugely evocative, with a lightness of touch and assurance impressive for a first novelist, it is a book we all wanted people to read.”
Judges:
Caroline Gascoigne Literary Editor, Sunday Times
Joanne Harris Author
Robert Palmer Formerly Product Manager, Foyles
Shortlist, selected from a total of 52 entries:
Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Bloomsbury
Richard Collins: The Land as Viewed from the Sea Seren Books
Panos Karnezis: The Maze Jonathan Cape
Previous Whitbread First Novel Award winners include:
DBC Pierre: Vernon God Little 2003
Norman Lebrecht:The Song of Names 2002
Sid Smith: Something Like a House 2001
2004 Whitbread Biography Award
My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots by John Guy
Harper Perennial
About the book:
She was crowned Queen of Scotland at nine months of age, and Queen of France at 16 years; at 18 she ascended the throne that was her birthright and began ruling one of the most fractious courts in Europe, riven by religious conflict and personal lust for power. She rode out at the head of an army in both victory and defeat; saw her second husband assassinated, and married his murderer. At age 25, she entered captivity at the hands of her rival queen, from which only death would release her.
About the author:
John Guy is the author of numerous histories, including Tudor England. He is a Fellow at Clare College, Cambridge and became an Honorary Research Professor of the University of St Andrews in 2003.
What the Whitbread judges said:
“An impressive and readable piece of scholarship, which cannot fail but leave the reader moved and intrigued by this the most tragic and likeable of queens.”
Judges:
Claire Armitstead Literary Editor, The Guardian
Roy Hattersley Writer and Broadcaster
Mary James Aldeburgh Bookshop
Shortlist, selected from a total of 105 entries:
David McKie: Jabez: The Rise and Fall of a Victorian Rogue Atlantic Books
John Sutherland: Stephen Spender Viking
Jeremy Treglown: V.S. Pritchett: A Life Chatto & Windus
Previous Whitbread Biography Award winners include:
DJ Taylor: Orwell: The Life 2003
Claire Tomalin: Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self 2002
Diana Souhami: Selkirk’s Island 2001
2004 Whitbread Poetry Award
Corpus by Michael Symmons Roberts
Jonathan Cape
About the book:
Corpus – Michael Symmons Roberts’ ambitious and inventive fourth collection – centres around the body. Mystical, philosophical and erotic, the bodies in these poems move between different worlds – life and after-life, death and resurrection – encountering pathologists’ blades, geneticists’ maps and the wounds of love and war.
About the author:
Michael Symmons Roberts was born in Preston, Lancashire, in 1963. He has published three previous books of poetry, Soft Keys (1993), Raising Sparks (1999) and Burning Babylon (2001) and is a frequent collaborator with the composer James MacMillan. He is also an award-winning radio writer, and makes documentary films for the BBC.
What the Whitbread judges said:
“An outstanding, perfectly-weighted collection that inspires profound meditation on the nature of the soul, the body, the stars and the heart - and sparks revelation. It is steeped in religious sensibility and boasts shades of Donne and Arnold, yet is also influenced by DNA's unravelling. It is that rarest of books: reading it feels like making an exciting new discovery and coming back to an acknowledged classic all at once."
Judges:
Philip Bell Blackwell’s Oxford
Lavinia Greenlaw Poet and Author
Luke Leitch Arts Correspondent, Evening Standard
Shortlist, selected from a total of 56 entries:
Leontia Flynn: These Days Jonathan Cape
John Fuller: Ghosts Chatto & Windus
Matthew Hollis: Ground Water Bloodaxe
Previous Whitbread Poetry Award winners include:
Don Paterson: Landing Light 2003
Paul Farley: The Ice Age 2002
Selima Hill: Bunny 2001
2004 Whitbread Children’s Book Award
Not the End of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean
Oxford University Press
About the book:
Timna is Noah’s dutiful and unwed daughter; her destiny is to care for her parents when they reach old age. When the rains come, she leaves on the Ark with her family and watches on in horror as her friends and neighbours are washed, indeed sometimes pushed, away to their deaths. Her father has told her that the earth must be purged of abomination and sin but, unbeknownst to Noah, Timna has set in motion a chain of events that will drastically affect God’s plan.
About the author:
Geraldine McCaughrean was born and educated in Enfield, North London, the third and youngest child of a fireman and a teacher. She attended Christ Church College of Education but, instead of teaching, chose to work for a magazine publishing house. She has won two Whitbread Children’s Book Awards (1987 and 1994).
What the Whitbread judges said:
"With stunning imaginative force, rank physicality and luminous writing, this unsentimental book makes the old story utterly new, and engages with crucial matters - tolerance and the dangers of fundamentalism; suffering; womanhood; survival; and ultimately, God's intentions."
Judges:
Kevin Crossley-Holland Author
Katie Derham ITV News Presenter
Lizo Mzimba CBBC Newsround presenter
Sharon Sperling Vice-Chair, CILIP Youth Libraries Group
Sarah Hayes (Young Judge) CBBC Newsround, ‘Presspacker’
Adam Pipe (Young Judge) CBBC Newsround, ‘Presspacker’
Shortlist, selected from a total of 113 entries:
Anne Cassidy: Looking for JJ Scholastic Press
Meg Rosoff: How I Live Now Puffin Books
Ann Turnbull: No Shame, No Fear Walker Books
Previous Whitbread Children’s Book Award winners include:
David Almond: The Fire-Eaters 2003
Hilary McKay: Saffy’s Angel 2002
Philip Pullman: The Amber Spyglass 2001
Final Judging Panel 2004 Whitbread Book Of The Year
The Final Judging Panel will meet on Tuesday 25th January 2005 to decide the Whitbread Book of the Year which will be announced at a presentation ceremony later that evening. The nine judges are:
Chairman
Sir Trevor McDonald OBE
Newscaster
Jenny Colgan
Writer
representing Novel Panel
Kevin Crossley-Holland
Writer
representing Children’s Panel
Mariella Frostrup
Journalist and Broadcaster
Hugh Grant
Actor
Lavinia Greenlaw
Writer
representing Poetry Panel
Joanne Harris
Writer
representing First Novel Panel
Roy Hattersley
Writer
representing Biography Panel
Michael Portillo
Member of Parliament and Journalist
Notes for Editors:
1. The Whitbread Book Awards, which were established in 1971, aim to encourage, promote and celebrate the best and most enjoyable books of the year in five different categories.
2. To be eligible for the 2004 Awards, books must have been first published in the UK or Ireland between 1 November 2003 and 31 October 2004.
3. The total prize fund for the Whitbread Awards now stand at £50,000. The award winners from the five categories - Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book - each receive £5,000.
4. The overall Whitbread Book of the Year is selected from the five category Award winners with the winner receiving a further £25,000. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony at The Brewery, central London on January 25, 2005.
5. Since the introduction of the Whitbread Book of the Year award in 1985, it has been won six times by a novel, three times by a first novel, four times by a biography, five times by a collection of poetry and once by a children’s book.
About Whitbread PLC:
Whitbread PLC is the UK's leading hospitality business, managing the number one brands in hotels, restaurants and racquets, health and fitness clubs, including Premier Travel Inn, Marriott (UK), Brewers Fayre, Beefeater, Costa, TGI Friday's and David Lloyd Leisure, and a strategic investment in Pizza Hut (UK).
Our success is due to the 50,000 people we employ in our businesses and the skill with which they serve the 10 million customers who each month visit our 1,400 outlets across the UK.
Whitbread's strategy is to create value for our shareholders by focusing on growth in expanding sectors of the hospitality industry, primarily in the UK but also in selected international markets. In the financial year to March 4, 2004, Whitbread generated pre-tax, pre-exceptional profit of £240.8m on sales of more than £1.8bn.
Founded in 1742, the company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (as WTB.L) and is a member of the FTSE 100 and FTSE4Good indices. Further information is available from www.whitbread.co.uk.
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