Costa Book Awards 2009 Shortlists announced

The Costa Book Awards 2009 Shortlists have been announced:

Costa First Novel Award

* The Finest Type of English Womanhood by Rachel Heath
* John the Revelator by Peter Murphy
* Beauty by Raphael Selbourne
* The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw

Costa Novel Award

* Family Album by Penelope Lively
* Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
* The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson
* Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Costa Biography Award

* The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius by Graham Farmelo
* The Music Room by William Fiennes
* Coda by Simon Gray
* Dancing to the Precipice by Caroline Moorehead

Costa Poetry Award

* Angels Over Elsinore by Clive James
* One Eye'd Leigh by Katharine Kilalea
* Darwin: A Life in Poems by Ruth Padel
* A Scattering by Christopher Reid

Costa Children's Award

* Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd
* Troubadour by Mary Hoffman
* The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
* Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera
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Wordsworth Editions is set to release Ulysses in January 2010

Helen Trayler, Managing Director of Wordsworth Editions has been quoted as saying, "This title I feel is my greatest achievement for Wordsworth, and I am really quite proud of myself." The 1932 edition of the book will be available for £1.99 with notes and introduction by Professor Cedric Watts, from 4 January 2010. Helen Trayler wrote to the Joyce Estate to ask if "there was any possibility that we could come to some arrangement" before the book goes public in 2012. Joyce, who is notoriously protective of his grandfather's work, responded by asking Trayler to "give him the right reasons" for Wordsworth to be given access. Among other reasons, Trayler said: "I told him I have always wanted to do Ulysses but felt that if I could do it before it became public domain, I would capture the market with my edition." Wordsworth is using a painting inspired by the novel, by talented Irish artist Jonathan Barry, for the book's cover image, showing Halfpenny Bridge in Dublin. There are at least 18 editions of Ulysses, although several of them - including the 1932 version, are out of print in the U.K. Both Penguin's £9.99 paperback and the £12.99 hardback produced by Everyman's Library Classics are the revised 1960's version

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Wellcome Trust Book Prize 2009 winner

"A thoughtful and moving book that takes the reader on a journey into dementia has won the first GBP25,000 Wellcome Trust Book Prize. The prize, which is in its inaugural year, is open to outstanding works of fiction and non-fiction on the theme of health and medicine. Andrea Gillies's book 'Keeper: Living with Nancy - a journey into Alzheimer's' (Short Books) - which is about the author's decision to take on the full-time care of her mother-in-law, an Alzheimer's sufferer - beat a shortlist of five other books. The diverse shortlist featured both factual accounts and gripping novels on broad subject matter from a thriller set in a US laboratory to real life accounts of living with illness. 'Keeper' is a very humane and honest exploration of living with Alzheimer's giving an illuminating account of the disease itself. Jo Brand, comedienne and former psychiatric nurse chaired the judging panel and made the announcement at an awards ceremony at the Wellcome Collection, London. She said: "Andrea Gillies's account of living with Alzheimer's is the perfect fusion of narrative with enough memorable science not to choke you. It's a fantastic book - down to earth and darkly comic in places. The judges found it compelling". Clare Matterson, Director of Medicine, Society and History at the Wellcome Trust, added: "The prize aims to examine the links between medicine, culture and society by celebrating excellent writing and bringing it to the attention of a broad and varied audience". Jo Brand' judging panel included BBC science journalist Quentin Cooper, Welsh poet and non-fiction writer Gwyneth Lewis, physician and author Raymond Tallis and Richard Barnett, expert in the history of modern medicine"

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Jeanette Winterson: 'You shouldn't grow up in public, it's a really bad idea'

"After decades of creating fiction, Jeanette Winterson found herself too depressed to write before the idea for her latest children's stories provided salvation. She talks to Nicolette Jones about her goddaughters, stern mother and making peace with the past. Interview by Nicolette Jones. The Independent

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2010 CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards nominations

Nominations for the 2020 CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards have been announced
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The 2010 Blue Peter Book Awards shortlist is:

Best Book With Facts:

Usborne Lift-the-flap Picture Atlas – Alex Frith & Kate Leake (Usborne)

Tail-End Charlie – Mick Manning & Brita Granstrom (Francis Lincoln Children's Books)

Why Eating Bogeys is Good for You – Mitchell Symons (Red Fox)

Book I Couldn't Put Down:

Cosmic – Frank Cottrell Boyce (Macmillan)

The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43 – Harriet Goodwin (Stripes)

Frozen in Time – Ali Sparkes (Oxford)

Most Fun Story with Pictures:

Peter the Penguin Pioneer – Daren King (Quercus)

Spells – Emily Gravett (Macmillan)

Dinkin Dings and the Frightening Things – Guy Bass (Stripes)

The final nine books will now be judged by a selection of young Blue Peter viewers. They will decide both the winners in each category, and the overall winner of Blue Peter Book of the Year 2010. The Book Awards show will be broadcast on Blue Peter in March 2010 to coincide with World Book Day. An extract from each of the nine shortlisted titles will be dramatised for the show
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HarperCollins and Skype team up to host first 'virtual' world author tour with International bestselling author Cecelia Ahern

"This November HarperCollins and Skype have created an innovative world first event - Cecelia Ahern's Virtual World Tour - to promote the publication of her latest novels, The Book of Tomorrow and The Gift, across the globe. Cecelia, one of the UK's best selling authors, who wrote PS: I Love You which was made into a highly successful Hollywood movie, will join events around the world via Skype video. Unable to embark on her regular worldwide promotional tours this year due the arrival of her first baby this autumn, HarperCollins and Skype are bringing Cecelia together with her fans through real-time Skype video. Cecelia will join events live from her home in Dublin and will appear on screens at selected retailers in central city locations. Events will range from celebrity-hosted evenings to invite-only retailer events. Fans will be able to speak to Cecelia and buy pre-signed copies of her new books. The tour kicks off with an event at the new Liverpool Waterstones store on Friday 13th November with further events scheduled in Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Sydney and Singapore. Cecelia Ahern has sold 12 million books in over 48 countries in only five years. At 28, she is one of the biggest success stories in commercial fiction. She is also the creator of the successful TV drama series, Samantha Who?"
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Britain's first storytelling laureate named as Cumbrian Taffy Thomas

Britain is set to enjoy its first storytelling laureate in the form of eccentrically-clad Cumbrian Taffy Thomas. Mr Thomas, 60, a literature and drama teacher who was awarded an MBE for services to storytelling and charity in 2001, has a repertoire of 300 stories, tales and elaborate lies collected mainly from traditional oral sources. During his two-year tenure starting in January next year, the self-declared "grand old man of stories" will travel the length and breadth of the UK entertaining children and adults
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