Monday, December 15, 2008

The Warwick Prize for Writing

The £50,000 Warwick Prize for Writing longlist of nominees was recently announced. FYI, the Warwick Prize is entirely self-funded by the University of Warwick.

What sets this prize apart from other literary prizes is that it is cross-disciplinary biennial award open to substantial pieces of writing in the English language and in any genre or form. This includes traslations from other languages.

The theme for the 2009 prize is ‘Complexity’.

The longlist consists of 20 titles, 12 non-fiction and eight fiction. They are as follows:
  1. Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800, Lisa Appignanesi, Virago, Non-Fiction.
  2. The Tiger That Isn’t, Michael Blastland & Andrew Dilnot, Profile Books, Non-Fiction.
  3. Torques: Drafts 58-76, Rachel Blau Duplessis, Salt Publishing, Poetry.
  4. Glister, John Burnside, Jonathan Cape Random House, Fiction.
  5. Planet of Slums, Mike Davies, Verso, Non-Fiction.
  6. The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed Bishop Gerardi?, Francisco Goldman, Atlantic Books, Non-Fiction.
  7. Someone Else, John Hughes Giramondo Publishing Company, Fiction.
  8. Reinventing the Sacred, Stuart A Kauffman, Perseus - Basic Books, Non-Fiction.
  9. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Naomi Klein, Penguin, Non-Fiction.
  10. The Burning Thomas Legendre Abacus Little, Brown Book Group, Fiction.
  11. Adam’s Ancestors: Race, Religion and the Politics of Human Origins, David Livingstone Johns Hopkins University Press , Non-Fiction.
  12. The Wild Places, Robert Macfarlane, Granta Books, Non-Fiction.
  13. The Meaning of the 21st Century, James Martin Eden Project, Transworld Publishers, Non-Fiction.
  14. Brasyl, Ian McDonald Gollancz, Orion, Fiction.
  15. Netherland, Joseph O’Neill 4th Estate, Harper Collins, Fiction.
  16. The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, Alex Ross 4th Estate, Harper Collins, Non-Fiction.
  17. The Informers, Juan Gabriel Vasquez (translator: Anne McLean), Bloomsbury, Fiction
  18. Montano's Malady, Enrique Vila-Matas (translator: Jonathan Dunne), New Directions, Fiction.
  19. Portrait with Keys, Ivan Vladislavic Portobello, Books, Non-Fiction.
  20. The Trader the Owner the Slave, James Walvin, Jonathan Cape Random House, Non-Fiction.
A shortlist of six titles will be announced on 23 January 2009, while the final winner will be announced on 24 February 2009 at the University of Warwick.

In addition to the monetary prize, the winning author will be awarded the opportunity to take up a short placement at the University of Warwick.

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