Press
Press Release
12/16/2009
Final Judging Panel Announced For 2009 Costa Book of the Year
* Novelist Josephine Hart to chair
* Writer and model Marie
Helvin, actresses Caroline Quentin and Dervla Kirwan, musician, actor and writer
Gary Kemp, and ITV News Political Editor Tom Bradby confirmed as final judges
* Actor and writer Neil Pearson, authors Sandra Howard, Robert Lacey and
William Nicholson and journalist Tom Fleming complete the panel
London, 16th December 2009: Novelist Josephine Hart will chair the final
judging which selects the overall winner of the prestigious 2009 Costa Book of
the Year, it was announced today.
The Costa Book Awards recognise the most enjoyable books of the last year by
writers based in the UK and Ireland.
Josephine will chair a panel which includes writer and model Marie Helvin,
actresses Caroline Quentin and Dervla Kirwan, musician, actor and writer, Gary
Kemp, ITV News Political Editor Tom Bradby and actor and writer, Neil Pearson,
who is also representing the Costa Novel Award category.
The other four category judging panels are represented by authors William
Nicholson (Children's Book Award), Sandra Howard (First Novel) and Robert Lacey
(Biography), and Literary Review Deputy Editor, Tom Fleming (Poetry).
The final judges will meet on Tuesday 26th January 2010 to select the winner
of the Costa Book of the Year, which will be announced at an awards ceremony
later that evening.
The ceremony, hosted by GMTV presenter Penny Smith, will take place at
Quaglino's in central London.
"The Costa Book Awards have an excellent track record of recognising and
celebrating some of the very best and most enjoyable books of the last year,"
said John Derkach, Managing Director at Costa. "It's never an easy task to
single out one Book of the Year which stands out above the rest, but we're
delighted to have such a fine panel of strong-minded people to undertake the
task this year, all of whom are avid readers and passionate about books."
Former final judges have included Rosamund Pike, Erin O'Connor, Alex James,
Emilia Fox, Michael Morpurgo, Hugh Grant, Ralph Fiennes, Jerry Hall, Ian Hislop,
Jonathan Ross, and Kirsty Young. Recent winners of the Book of the Year
include Sebastian Barry (2008), A.L. Kennedy (2007), Stef Penney (2006), Hilary
Spurling (2005), Andrea Levy (2004), Mark Haddon (2003), Philip Pullman, Seamus
Heaney and the late Ted Hughes.
Costa is also pleased to announce that this year's total prize fund will be
increased to £55,000.
Each of the category award-winning authors receive £5,000 and this year the
overall Costa Book of the Year winner will be presented with a cheque for
£30,000, an increase of £5,000 from last year.
"Costa is very proud of its sponsorship of the Book Awards," added John
Derkach, "and we're delighted to be able to further acknowledge and reward the
outstanding achievement of the Costa Book of the Year winner by increasing the
prize fund this year."
For more information on this year's Costa Book Awards, go to www.costabookawards.com.
-ENDS-
For further press information, images or to arrange an interview with
a final judge, please contact:
Amanda Johnson
Costa Book Awards Press and Publicity
Telephone:
0207 751 2085 (direct line) or 07715 922180 (mobile)
Email: amanda@amandajohnsonpr.com
*
* * * * * * * *
Notes for Editors:
About the Costa Book Awards:
* The Costa Book Awards, formerly
the Whitbread Book Awards, were established in 1971 to encourage, promote and
celebrate the best contemporary British writing.
* The total prize fund
for the Costa Book Awards has been increased to £55,000. The award winners from
the five categories - Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book
- each receive £5,000.
* The overall Costa Book of the Year is selected
from the five category Award winners with the winner receiving a further
£30,000.
* The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony
hosted in central London on 26th January, 2010.
* To be eligible for the
2009 awards, books must have been first published in the UK or Ireland between 1
November 2008 and 31 October 2009.
* The 2009 winner of the Costa Book of
the Year was Sebastian Barry for The Secret Scripture (Faber and
Faber).
* Since winning the Book of the Year, The Secret Scripture has
gone on to sell over 300,000 copies and has become the fastest-selling book in
the history of Faber and Faber.
About Costa:
* Costa was founded by Italian brothers Sergio
and Bruno Costa in 1971.
* Costa Coffee was the first UK coffee shop
chain to commit sourcing beans from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
* Costa's in-store baristas are all coached in the art of coffee making
at the company's unique Costa Coffee Academy based at its own roastery in
Lambeth, London.
* The Costa Foundation was set up in 2006 to give
something back to the communities within the countries from which Costa sources
its coffee beans. The Costa Foundation works with an independent charity
partner, Charities Trust, and is operating under the auspices of Charities
Trust's registered charity number 327489.
* Costa is part of the
Whitbread family of brands.
* For more information, please go to http://www.costa.co.uk
2009 Costa Book
Awards Final Judging Panel
Biographies
Josephine Hart
(Chairman): Novelist
Josephine Hart was born and raised in Ireland. She
was a director of Haymarket Publishing, presented Books By My Bedside
for Thames TV, and founded Gallery Poets, now The Josephine Hart Poetry Hour at
the British Library (also at The Royal Society, The New York Public Library,
Harvard and The Donmar Warehouse) at which great actors read great poetry.
The Josephine Hart Poetry Hour was recently broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
Virago has published two publications with accompanying CDs based on her
readings and biographical essays on each poet, 'Catching Life By The
Throat', which she funded free of charge to every school in the UK
teaching pupils aged between 12 and 18; and Words That Burn which the
British Library will shortly transmit via their schools' website. In theatre,
her West End productions include the award-winning The House of Bernarda
Alba by Lorca, Noel Coward's The Vortex, Iris Murdoch's The
Black Prince, and 'Let Us Go Then, You and I' based on the life
and work of T.S.Eliot. She is the author of six novels: Damage
(filmed by Louis Malle), Sin, Oblivion, The Stillest Day and The
Reconstructionist.
Her latest novel - The Truth About Love - was published in 2009. She
has been a Booker, Whitbread and Irish Times judge and this year chaired the
Forward Poetry Prize. She is married to Maurice Saatchi and has two
sons.
Tom Bradby: Political Editor, ITV News
As Political Editor for ITV News, Tom Bradby is renowned for
his expert analysis and inimitable interviewing style.
Tom regularly conducts exclusive interviews with the most influential figures
in Westminster and the political arena - his interview with John Bercow was
shortlisted for the Nick Clarke Award in 2009. Prior to becoming Political
Editor, Tom held various roles at ITV News; as Ireland Correspondent, he covered
the unfolding peace process, and as Asia Correspondent, he was shot and
seriously wounded during a riot in Jakarta. As Royal Correspondent, he made a
documentary called 'The Forgotten Kingdom,' which raised large sums
used to found Prince Harry's charity in Lesotho.
Outside of Westminster, Tom is a highly-acclaimed author of six novels, three
of which have been shortlisted for major awards including CWA Thriller of the
Year and Historical Novel of the Year. His latest novel, Blood Money,
was published in February of this year.
Tom Fleming: Deputy Editor, Literary Review (representing the
Poetry Award category)
Tom Fleming is Deputy Editor of Literary Review.
He has written for a number of publications including The Observer, The
Spectator, New Statesman and the TLS.
Marie Helvin: Writer and
Model
Marie Helvin is often referred to as one of the most
beautiful women of our time, and was voted as one of the top 30 Supermodels of
all time in Channel 5's 'World's Greatest Supermodel'. Named as
'the face of the Seventies', Marie appeared on the cover of British
Vogue no less than seven times. Many of her most memorable images, now
classics of fashion photography, were taken by her former husband, David
Bailey.
Today, her successful modeling career continues, with recent campaigns
including M&S and Agent Provocateur. In addition she has worked for
radio and television, including being a judge in the first edition of
'Britain's Next Top Model'.
As well as remaining at the forefront of the fashion industry, Marie is also
a successful writer, and has published three books, including her autobiography
in 2007.
Sandra Howard: Author (representing the First Novel
category)
Sandra Howard (n?e Paul) was one of the leading photographic
fashion models of the 1960s and 70s. She began doing freelance journalism
while still modelling and continues to write for the press alongside writing
novels, which is now a full-time career.
Her three published titles are Glass Houses (2006), Ursula's
Story (2007) and A Matter of Loyalty (2009) and she is presently
working on a fourth.
Sandra is a trustee of the drug rehabilitation charity Addiction and
Vice-President of the National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy (NCYPE).
She is married to the former British Conservative Party leader Michael Howard.
They have three adult children and live in her husband's Kent constituency and
London.
Gary Kemp: Musician, Actor and Writer
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Gary Kemp is a songwriter and guitarist for
Spandau Ballet. He also works as an actor on stage and screen. Gary
released his first book in 2009, I Know This Much, a self-penned memoir
published by Fourth Estate. He lives in central London with his wife and
three sons. Photo credit: Andrew Timms
Dervla Kirwan: Actress
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Dervla Kirwan is an actress whose
first TV role was in the series Troubles in 1988. She went on to
make a number of television appearances including the critically-acclaimed A
Time To Dance, adapted by Melvyn Bragg from his own novel. She also starred
in the first three series of the very popular Goodnight Sweetheart
alongside Nicholas Lyndhurst. She appeared in the hugely successful show,
Ballykissangel, and subsequently won the 1996 National TV Award for
Best Actress and the Irish Post Award for Best Irish Entertainer.
Since then, Dervla has appeared in a variety of TV, film and stage roles
including Casanova, School For Scandal, the 2008 Christmas special of
Doctor Who, BBC drama Moving On and Irish film Ondine
alongside Colin Farrell. Dervla will appear on television next year in a
new episode of ITV's Marple: The Secret of Chimneys and the
eagerly-awaited BBC sitcom, Material Girl.
Robert Lacey: Biographer and Historian (representing the
Biography category)
Robert Lacey is a British historian noted for his original
research, which gets him close to - and often living alongside - his subjects.
He is the author of numerous international bestsellers.
After writing his first works of historical biography, Robert, Earl of
Essex and Sir Walter Raleigh, Robert wrote Majesty, his
pioneering biography of Queen Elizabeth II. Published in 1977, Majesty remains
acknowledged as the definitive study of British monarchy. To research The
Kingdom, a study of Saudi Arabia published in 1981, Robert and his wife
Sandi took their family to live for eighteen months beside the Red Sea in
Jeddah. In March 1984, the family moved again to live in Detroit, Michigan, to
write Ford: the Men and the Machine, a subsequent bestseller on both
sides of the Atlantic.
Robert's other books include biographies of the gangster Meyer Lansky,
Princess Grace of Monaco and a study of Sotheby's auction house.
William Nicholson: Writer (representing the Children's Book Award
category)
William Nicholson's career started at the BBC,
where he worked as a documentary film-maker. His ambition to write was
channelled into television drama and his plays for television include
Shadowlands and Life Story, both of which won the BAFTA Best
Television Drama award in their year.
His first play, an adaptation of Shadowlands for the stage, was Evening
Standard Best Play of 1990, and went on to a Tony Award-winning run on Broadway,
and he was nominated for an Oscar for the screenplay of the film version.
Since then he has written more films including Gladiator (as
co-writer), for which he received a second Oscar nomination, and Elizabeth:
the Golden Age.
He has written and directed his own film, Firelight, and three
further stage plays. His novel for older children, The Wind
Singer, won the Smarties Prize Gold Award on publication in 2000, and the
Blue Peter Book of the Year Award in 2001. Its sequel, Slaves of the
Mastery, was published in May 2001, and the final volume in the trilogy,
Firesong, in May 2002. The trilogy has been sold in every major foreign
market, from the US to China.
His novels for adults include The Society of Others (April 2004) and
The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life (May 2009). He lives in
Sussex with his wife Virginia and their three children.
Neil Pearson: Actor and Writer (representing the Novel Award
category)
Neil Pearson is an actor, bibliophile and the author of
Obelisk: A History of Jack Kahane and the Obelisk Press. He lives
in London.
Caroline Quentin: Actress
Caroline Quentin is an actress well-known for her
performances in Men Behaving Badly, Jonathan Creek and
Kiss Me Kate. She has recently filmed the second series of
Life of Riley for BBC 1 and Miss Marple - The Mirror Cracked
for ITV.
She has starred in five series of Blue Murder and three series of
Life Begins for ITV, and has also starred in a number of one-off dramas
including Von Trapped, Blood Strangers and Hot Money for
Granada, and The Innocent for Yorkshire Television. Recent
theatre includes Life After Scandal, directed by Anthony Clark for
Hampstead Theatre and Plymouth Theatre Royal.
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