Shortlist announced for Lakeland Book of the Year 2023
Written by John Williamson on 14/06/2023
The shortlist for the prestigious Lakeland Book of the Year 2023 has been announced and there is just one month to go until the winners will be crowned at the charity event taking place on Tuesday 11th July at The Inn on the Lake, Glenridding.
Now in its 39th year, the Lakeland Book of the Year awards celebrate new writers and established authors who feature Cumbria in some way in their works and this year’s submissions highlight the huge variety of both the county and its literary talent.
Covering almost every genre and subject, from local history, agricultural landscape to bingo hall murder mysteries, this year’s entries have been narrowed down to a shortlist of 18, including:
The Bill Rollinson Prize for Landscape & Tradition
Forty Farms, Amy Bateman
Lost in the Lakes, Tom Chesshyre
Westmorland, the Changing Hills, John Dunning
The Latitude Press Prize for Illustration & Presentation
Centre Stage, Andy Park
My Lakeland, Jim Watson
Waterbird, Ian Gee
The Bookends Prize for People & Business
Between Before and After, Edita Mujkic
Countess Ossalinsky and the Thirlmere Dam, Ian Hall
Minnie’s Scrapbook, Gary Johnston
The Wordsworth Prize for Literature & Poetry
163 Days, Hannah Hodgson
Jardiniere, Kerry Darbishire
North Country: An Anthology of Landscape & Nature, Karen Lloyd (ed)
The Eric Robson Striding Edge Productions Prize for Guides & Places
Cumbria Rocks, Ian Jackson
Extreme Lakeland, Nadir Khan and Tom McNally
Lakeland Fell Running for Mortals, John Myatt
The Gilpin Hotel Prize for Fiction
The Age of Reason, Francis McCrickard
The Bingo Hall Detectives, Jonathan Whitelaw
Till all the Seas, Jane Whiteford
The awards will be presented at a charity event at The Inn on the Lake, Glenridding in just under a months’ time on Tuesday 11 July 2023. The charity partner for this year’s event is PAPYRUS (Prevention of Young Suicide in the UK) charity dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people. Attending the event will be Andy Airey from 3 Dads Walking, along with a representative from PAPYRUS.
This year’s competition includes the introduction of new judge Michael McGregor, who is Director of Wordsworth Grasmere and the returning Kathleen Jones who was previously on the panel. Alongside broadcaster Fiona Armstrong, who takes up head judging duties following the retirement of competition founder Hunter Davies OBE, will be former Cumbria Tourism President Eric Robson. Rachel Laverack from Cumbria County Council will judge and present the children’s poetry competition. It will also be the first time that Cumbria Tourism will be running the event following many years in a supporting role.
Returning judge and Sunday Times best-selling biographer Kathleen Jones comments “The Lake District, Cumbria has more writers per head of population than anywhere else in the UK. It’s an exciting and inspirational place for a writer but, living in the north can sometimes mean you get overlooked by a very ‘London-centric’ industry.
“The Lakeland Book of the Year Awards are very important in spotlighting Cumbrian authors. As a ‘bred and born’ Cumbrian, I’m delighted to be asked back as a judge. Being a published writer is often a thankless occupation, and so it’s wonderful to be able to give recognition to the amazing writers who live here.
Previous Lakeland Book of the Year winner Roger Lytollis adds “I’d like to wish the best of luck to all entrants in this year’s Lakeland Book of the Year awards. I was fortunate enough to win the overall award last year. The resulting publicity had a big impact on sales. I’m sure the same will be true of this year’s winner, and I hope that all the shortlisted titles receive a boost, and the recognition they deserve.”
Tickets are still on sale here for the 2023 Lakeland Book of the Year Awards or for more information about the event, contact Ben Melling at Cumbria Tourism on 01539 822 222.
