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Waverton Good Read Award
The Waverton Good Read Award was founded in 2003 by villagers in Waverton, Chester, England, and is based on ''Le Prix de la Cadière d'Azur'', a literary prize awarded by a Provençal village. Adult debut novels written by UK residents and published in the previous twelve months are eligible for consideration and are read by villagers. "The aim was not only to stimulate reading in the village but to provide encouragement to British writers". Two of the main founders were Gwen Goodhew (b 21 October 1942) an educational specialist who established Wirral Able Child Centre and has written and edited books on teaching the gifted child, and Wendy Smedley. It is the first British award to be judged by normal readers rather than literary figures. Waverton Good Read Children's Award was first presented in 2011, for children's literature. Due to the COVID pandemic, the 2019/20 shortlist and winner were announced on the same day, and there was no Children's award. Winners and shortlists ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waverton, Cheshire
Waverton is a village and civil parish on the outskirts of Chester in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies about south-east of Chester High Cross, south of Liverpool and south west of Manchester. It is almost continuous with the village of Rowton to the north west and that in turn is almost continuous with Christleton. According to the 2011 Census, the population of the parish was 1,587. The village's Anglican church is dedicated to St. Peter. The village has an Evangelical church and there is a Methodist church on the edge of the village in the parish of Rowton. The village has a post office, a number of shops, a takeaway, hairdressers, a primary school and a pub called the Black Dog. The village is home to the outdoor children's adventure attraction, the Crocky Trail. The Waverton Good Read Award was founded in 2003 for first-time UK novelists. Waverton Business Park is also located in the village, of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Newton (novelist)
William Kenneth Newton (6 November 1927 – 6 March 2010) was an English doctor who treated British and foreign royalty as well as many celebrities, and after retirement wrote the acclaimed novel '' The Two Pound Tram'' (under the name William Newton) which won the 2005 Society of Authors Sagittarius Prize (for first novelists over the age of 60). Early life He was born in Ealing, west London the son of racing driver Frank Newton (who won the Montagu Cup in 1908 at Brooklands). He and his brother Peter were educated at Charterhouse School, Peter went on to be a pioneer of California's Napa Valley wine industry. Kenneth went on to study medicine at King's College Hospital in London and then at Westminster Hospital Medical School before volunteering to serve as a medical officer in North Africa and Cyprus with the Grenadier Guards. Medical practice After working with Sir Francis Leslie, in 1960 he set up his own practice at 60 Cadogan Square in Knightsbridge which he expanded t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Observations
''The Observations'', the debut novel by British author Jane Harris, was published in 2006 and shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2007. It was Waterstones book of the month and Faber & Faber's lead debut fiction title for spring 2006 (with its biggest ever initial print run for a first book).'Already compared with Sarah Waters, debut novelist Jane Harris will soon be everywhere, from Waterstones to Tesco', Liz Hoggard, ''The Observer'', Sunday 19 March 2006 Retrieved 2016-07-15. Summary ''The Observations'' is set in Scotland in 1863 and narrated by the lively, sharp Bessy Buckley, who leaves her murky past in Glasgow and stumbles int ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucy Caldwell
Lucy Caldwell (born 1981) is a Northern Irish playwright and novelist. She was the winner of the 2021 BBC National Short Story Award. Biography Born in Belfast in 1981 in what she later described as into one of the darkest and most turbulent years of the Troubles: the year the hunger strikes began, when within a few months Bobby Sands and nine others died; when things seemed to be spiralling irrevocably out of control. She studied at Strathearn School and later at Queens' College, Cambridge, graduating with a First-Class Degree, and Goldsmiths College, London. Caldwell left the city she had always considered "boring, introverted" in 1999, but later declared: "yes, it's true: I do love this city, and I do love these streets, and I am proud to be from here." In June 2004, Caldwell's first short play, ''The River'', was performed at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and subsequently the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The play won her the PMA Most Promising Playwright Award. C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Where They Were Missed
''Where They Were Missed'' is the debut novel from Northern Irish author Lucy Caldwell (though she had previously written plays). It was shortlisted for the inaugural Dylan Thomas Prize and the Waverton Good Read Award. It was named by ''The Guardian's'' Glenn Patterson as one of the 'top 10 Belfast books'. Plot introduction The first part of the novel is set in 1980s Protestant East Belfast and is told through the eyes of six-year-old Saoirse whose father is in the RUC and mother, a Catholic from Donegal struggles to cope with the sectarian pressures and turns to drink. Tragedy then strikes and they are forced to leave Belfast... The second part of the novel takes place ten years later in Gweebarra Bay, County Donegal where the teenage Saoirse discovers the secret behind her family's dislocation. Reception *It was described by ''Vogue'' as "a debut reminiscent of Ian McEwan's ''The Cement Garden'' and Trezza Azzopardi's '' The Hiding Place''." *David Pierce wrote in ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liz Byrski
Elizabeth Ann Byrski (born 1944 in London) is an Australian writer and journalist. Biography After graduating from Notre Dame Convent in Lingfield, Surrey, in 1960, Byrski furthered her education at the Crawley College of Further Education (1960–61) and the Wall Hall College of Education (1973–74). Her first job was as a secretary at a pest control firm in Sussex. Her journalism career began when she started as a journalist in 1962 on the Horley Advertiser (part of Surrey Mirror Newspapers), in Horley, Surrey. She moved to Australia in 1981. Byrski was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2023 Australia Day Honours. Journalism As a freelance journalist Byrski's work has appeared in the Australian Financial Review, The West Australian, The Australian, The Age, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, and The Dominion (Wellington, NZ), Homes and Living, New Idea, Cosmopolitan, SkyWest In-Flight, Building Magazine, and Portfolio. In 1988 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicola Monaghan
Nicola Monaghan is an English novelist and author of ''The Killing Jar'', ''Starfishing'' and ''The Okinawa Dragon''. She grew up in Nottingham, England, and gave up a career in finance to pursue an MA in creative writing at Nottingham Trent University. Writing career Monaghan was listed in The Independent's New Year 2006 list of rising talent and won a Betty Trask Award, the Author's Club Best First Novel Prize and the Waverton Good Read Award for her debut. Her second novel ''Starfishing'' and novella ''The Okinawa Dragon'' came out in 2008. She has also had stories published in anthologies and magazines, including ''Sunday Night and Monday Morning'' (Five Leaves), ''Cool Brittania'' (Wachenbach) and online magazine Pulp.Net Monaghan has written screenplays for Council Child Productions, including "Starcross" and "Margie's Garden." ''The Killing Jar'' The Killing Jar was Monaghan's first award-winning novel and was inspired by the lives she witnessed on the council estates w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Killing Jar (novel)
''The Killing Jar'' (Chatto and Windus) is the debut novel of Nicola Monaghan, published in March 2006. It tells the story of Kerrie Ann Hill, a young girl growing up on a drug-ridden housing estate in Nottingham. Kerrie Ann meets an elderly neighbour when she's young, Mrs Ivanovich, an entomologist who teaches Kerrie about life, death, the Amazon rainforest and the miniature, alien world of insects. "Kez" struggles to look after her brother Jon, and hold things together as she's brought up by her junkie mum, Sue, and later, living with her boyfriend Mark as he becomes more and more involved with heroin and crack cocaine. The book explores themes of metamorphosis, the highs and lows of drugs, and how people become trapped by poisoned environments, and what it takes to escape them. Monaghan was included in ''The Independents New Year list of "Rising Talent of 2006" and ''The Killing Jar'' made their 50 Hot Books for summer and Books of Year features. It went on to win a Betty Tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Thompson
Harry William Thompson (6 February 1960 – 7 November 2005) was an English radio and television producer, comedy writer, novelist and biographer. He was the creator of the dark humour television series '' Monkey Dust'', screened between 2003 and 2005. Born in London, Thompson was educated at Highgate School and Brasenose College, Oxford, then joined the BBC as a trainee in 1981. He soon focused his attention on comedy, working as a researcher for ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and BBC Radio's ''The Mary Whitehouse Experience''. Rising to the level of producer, he produced the BBC radio shows ''The News Quiz'' and ''Lenin of the Rovers''. Hat Trick Productions subsequently employed Thompson to produce a television adaptation of ''The News Quiz'', entitled ''Have I Got News For You'', a critical and commercial success which Thompson produced for five years before moving onto other projects. A biographer and novelist, Thompson wrote six books: an investigation into the story ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
This Thing Of Darkness
This Thing of Darkness (published in the United States as ''To the Edge of the World'') was the debut novel of Harry Thompson, published in 2005 only months before his death in November of that year at the age of 45. Set in the period from 1828 to 1865, it is a historical novel telling the fictionalised biography of Robert FitzRoy, who was given command of ''HMS Beagle'' halfway through her first voyage. He subsequently captained her during the vessel’s famous second voyage, on which Charles Darwin travelled as his companion. The novel was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Its title comes from Prospero's line "This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine" in Act V, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare’s '' The Tempest''. Historical background Born to an aristocratic family, Robert FitzRoy joined the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth aged 12 and entered the Royal Navy the following year, rising rapidly through the ranks. The novel begins in 1828 with the suicide of the commander of '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julia Gregson
Julia Gregson (born 1947) is a British writer of short stories and novels. Her first published short story won Ryman's Literary Review Short story award. In 2009, her novel ''East of the Sun'' won the Prince Maurice Prize for Literary Love stories, and the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Biography Personal life At age 19, Gregson married an equally young academic who worked at Sydney University. The marriage ended in divorce after six years.Julia Gregson tells how riding with Mick Jagger started her writing ''WalesOnline'', 8 March 2013 She began dating producer/writer |
Linda Gillard
Linda Gillard lives in the Scottish Highlands and has been an actress, journalist and teacher. She is the author of seven novels, including STAR GAZING, short-listed in 2009 for ''Romantic Novel of the Year'' and HOUSE OF SILENCE, which became a Kindle bestseller and was selected by Amazon UK Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ... as one of their ''Top Ten Best of 2011'' in the Indie Author category. External links Author's website Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of Bristol {{UK-writer-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
