Award overload

With book awards being handed out left right and centre, it’s hard to grasp which is which: so, Books has created this easy to handle guide to literary awards

I expect that there are a lot of you that struggle as I do trying to find a quick read. There are those times when you want to jump on a train, but priding yourself in being an English Literature student, you won’t pick up any trashy romance. No, you want to read what’s being talked about, what’s new and exciting and getting the literary world in a stir (or is that just me? Sometimes I wonder).

But there is never enough time to think about these things, and sometimes it is easier to reach for a big prizewinner and be done with it. But this is becoming increasingly difficult as awards are given week after week, now every book in the shop has a big sticker announcing it’s worth and you end up feeling dejected and buying a copy of Empire.

Do not despair though, for Books has compiled a list of some of the most prestigious and influential awards given each year to help you choose your next big read this summer.

1. The Nobel Prize for Literature

This obviously doesn’t go to a particular book but rather to an author who has offered much to the world of literature. It’s all very secretive, the prizewinner is chosen by the Swedish Academy who decide in secret. Cloak and dagger stuff definitely. This isn’t such a relevant one to your pick up a book quick philosophy, but you should definitely be aware of the prizewinners. They are usually literary giants (which isn’t suprising, the prize money for this award is $1.5 million!) awarded the Nobel prize for ‘the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency’. In 2006 Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

2. The Man Booker Prize

This is a very high profile award and should be taken seriously. It is awarded to the best original full-length novel written in English by someone from the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. The winner can get a cool £50,000 which isn’t half bad, and is almost immediately guaranteed world wide success. 2006’s winner was Kiran Desai with her novel The Inheritance of Loss.

3. The Whitbread Award renamed in 2006, now The Costa Book Awards (somehow it doesn’t sound as classy anymore?)

Holding it’s own with the big ones, The Costa Book Awards are split into five catogories: Best Novel, Best First Novel, Children’s, Poetry and Biography. Each category winner gets £5,000 with a chance of being chosen overall and winning an extra £25,000. That isn’t bad! Costa say that they host the book awards as books make people drink more coffee. Well, I’m not so sure about that. The winners for First Novel this year went to Stef Penney for The Tenderness of Wolves and the Novel award winner was William Boyd for Restless.

4. Orange Prize for Fiction

For a bit of a change there is the Orange Prize for Ficton. It is given to a famale author of any nationality that has written in English. The award is highly regarded and the prizewinner grabs £30,000. This year’s winner was of course Zadie Smith with On Beauty.