East Midlands Book Award

Gavin Bryars will be the Celebrity Judge for the 2011 East Midlands Book Award in  May 2012 for the best book of 2011, and will chair the panel of judges. The award is an independent, annual award, which is being first awarded in June 2011 (for books written in 2010), to the best writer of fiction, creative non-fiction, or poetry. The aim is to promote writers who live in the East Midlands, to raise the profile of what is a thriving literary scene in the region, and to reward exceptional work. The trustees of the award are David Belbin, Ross Bradshaw, John Lucas and Jane Streeter, each acting in an individual capacity. This independent book award is administered by Writing East Midlands. 

Gavin was first contacted by the writer John Lucas who he had met at a performance of From Egil's Saga at Southwell Minster in 2004 - John Lucas has translated the poems of Egil's Saga. It transpired that John had also been the tutor of Gavin's friend and collaborator Blake Morrison when Blake was at Nottingham University.

The shortlist consists of:

• Gregory Woods (Nottingham)An Ordinary Dog, Carcanet Press - Poetry
• Sunjeev Sahota (Derbyshire)Ours are the Streets, Picador - Novel
• Kerry Young (Leicester)Pao, Bloomsbury - Novel
• Paula Rawsthorne (Nottingham)The Truth About Celia Frost, Usborne Publishing - Young Adult Novel
• Anne Zouroudi (Derbyshire)The Whispers of Nemesis, Bloomsbury - Crime Novel
• Laura Owen (Leicestershire)The Misadventures of Winnie the Witch, Oxford University Press - Childrens Books - Children's Stories

http://www.writingeastmidlands.co.uk/awards/