Masterpieces is the East Anglian Book of the Year

The sixth EDP Jarrold East Anglian Book Awards ceremony was held at OPEN in Norwich on 7th November. The awards continue to be run in partnership with the Writers’ Centre, Norwich and the UEA with support for the reception from Adnams. Some 120 people gathered for a sociable evening, which included a buffet dinner prepared by Jarrold’s chefs, to celebrate East Anglian publishing and hear the winners in each of the six categories and the overall winner. Renown local author Mark Cocker talked about his experiences. Liz Calder, a founding director of the major international publisher Bloomsbury, who has since established Full Circle books which produces original and high quality books about East Anglia including last year’s East Anglian Book of the Year, spoke about the importance of awards within the industry and presented the awards.

This year, for the first time, submissions to the awards were also invited from authors who live in the area but whose books were not necessarily about East Anglia. The judges were delighted with the overall quality of submissions across the categories.

The Book of the Year, and recipient of a new award of £1,000, was Masterpieces: Art and East Anglia edited by Ian Collins and published by East Publishing and SCVA. The book accompanies the Masterpieces exhibition which is currently on show at the Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia and forms part of the UEA’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

The shortlisted titles and winners in each category were:

East Anglian Book Awards 2013 – shortlists and winners

Fiction

The Norfolk Mystery by Ian Sansom (Fourth Estate) – Winner
Worthless Men by Andrew Cowan (Sceptre)
My Criminal World by Henry Sutton (Harvill Secker)

Poetry

Her Birth by Rebecca Goss (Carcanet) – Winner
Waiting For Bluebeard by Helen Ivory (Bloodaxe)
Bad Machine by George Szirtes (Bloodaxe)

History and Tradition

The Story of Norwich Boot and Shoe Trade by Frances and Michael Holmes (Norwich Heritage Products) – Winner
A Scandal at Felbrigg by Trevor Heaton (Bosworth Books)
Maritime Norfolk by Robert Malster (Poppyland Publishing)

Biography and Memoir

Benjamin Britten: A Life for Music by Neil Powell (Hutchinson) – Winner
Touched by Untouchables by Pat Atkinson (Connaught Books)
The Time by the Sea: Aldeburgh 1955-1958 by Ronald Blythe (Faber and Faber)

General Non-Fiction

Masterpieces: Art and East Anglia edited by Ian Collins (East Publishing/SCVA) – Winner
The Long, Wild Shore by James McCallum (Silver Brant)
Coulter’s Countryside by Alan Marshall (Mascot Media)

All titles are available from the Jarrold book department.