Brooklyn and Quantum Physics Rule Costa Book Awards

 5th Jan -Announced overnight in London, the category winners of the "would you like a cup of coffee with that category winner sir", the UK Costa Book Awards.

Not a bad selection in the winners circle, though Tragic was sad to see Clive Jame's shortlisted Angels Over Elsinore  pipped in the Poetry category won by the admittedly fine, A Scattering,  by Christopher Reid.

Ireland is starting to dominate those soppy Costa judges with Irish author Colm Tóibín being named the winner of the Costa Novel Award for his book Brooklyn. Judges described, the book, previously shortlisted for a number of other prizes as,  "a wonderfully-observed story of love and loss." Yes of course it is it is it is. Tóibín's compatriot, Sebastian Barry won the 2009 Costa Novel and Book of the Year award with The Secret which had possibly one of the worst endings Tragic has ever encountered.

Tragic is delighted for Mr. Tóibín whose 2006 Dublin International winner,  The Master,  about a period in the life of the great Henry James was a read he greatly enjoyed.

Tóibín beat Man Booker Prize winner Hilary Mantel ('Wolf Hall'), Penelope Lively ('Family Album') and Christopher Nicholson ('The Elephant Keeper') to the award.

Other category winners:

• First Novel: Beauty by Raphael Selbourne
• Biography: The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius by Graham Farmelo.
• Children's Book Award winner: The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
  

 Graham Farmelo's book is on Tragic's list, Paul Dirac a fascinating character.

Tragic rather fancies The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness as an outsider to take out the main prize which the category winners contest, the Costa Book of the Year to be announced in London on Tuesday, 26 January.

2009 Winners and Shortlists
Costa Novel Award
Winner: * Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (more...)
Publisher: Viking
In a small town in the south-east of Ireland in the 1950s, Eilis Lacey is one among many of her generation who cannot find work at home. So when a job is offered in America, it is clear that she must go. Leaving her family and home, Eilis sets off to forge a new life for herself in Brooklyn. Young, homesick and alone, she gradually buries the pain of parting beneath the rhythms of a new life - days at the till in a large department store, night classes in Brooklyn College and Friday evenings on the dance floor of the parish hall - until she realises that she has found a sort of happiness. But when tragic news summons her back to Ireland, and the constrictions of her old life unexpectedtly give way to new possibilities, she finds herself facing a terrible choice between love and happiness in the land where she belongs and the promises she must keep on the far side of the ocean.

Colm Toibin was born in Ireland in 1955. He is author of five other novels, including The Blackwater Lightship and The Master, both of which were shortlisted for the Man Booker prize, and a collection of stories, Mothers and Sons.

Judges: "A wonderfully-observed story of love and loss."

Other Shortlisted

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* Family Album by Penelope Lively (more...)
* Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (more...)
* The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson (more...)

Costa First Novel Award
Winner: * Beauty by Raphael Selbourne (more).
Publisher: Tindal Street Press

Beauty - in name and appearance - is a twenty-year-old Bangladeshi, back in England having disgraced her family by fleeing an abusive arranged marriage.  Placed on the jobseeker's treadmill and under continuing domestic pressure, in desperation she runs away.  Her fractious encounters with officialdom, fellow claimants and passers-by in the city streets, exacerbated by the restrictions (and comfort) of her language and culture, place her at the mercy of such unlikely helpers as Mark, a friendly Staffordshire Bull Terrier-breeding ex-offender, and Peter, a middle-class underachiever.  Determined and spirited, yet tormented by doubts, Beauty is forced to examine her own beliefs and think seriously about her future.  While her brothers search for her across the city, the conflict between her desire for personal freedom and her sense of family duty deepens.  What will she do?

Raphael Selbourne was born in Oxford in 1968.  He lived in Italy for many years, where he worked variously as a teacher and translator, sold television advertising and scooters, before moving to the West Midlands in 2004.

Judges: "Captures the raw humanity of inner city life with extraordinary authenticity."
Other shortlisted

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* The Finest Type of English Womanhood by Rachel Heath (more...)
* John the Revelator by Peter Murphy (more...)
* The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw (more...)

Costa Biography Award
Winner: * The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius by Graham Farmelo (more...)
Publisher: Faber and Faber

The greatest British physicist since Newton, Paul Dirac was a pioneer of quantum mechanics and was regarded as an equal by Albert Einstein. He predicted, purely from what he saw in his equations, the existence of antimatter. One of the youngest theoreticians to win the Nobel Prize for Physics, he was also pathologically reticent, strangely literal-minded and almost completely unable to communicate or empathise. Based on a previously undiscovered archive of family papers in Florida, Graham Farmelo celebrates Dirac's massive scientific achievement while drawing a compassionate portrait of his life and the people around him.

Graham Farmelo is Senior Research Fellow at the Science Museum, London, and Adjunct Professor of Physics at Northeastern University, Boston, USA. Formerly a theoretical physicist, he is now an international consultant in science communication. He edited the best-selling It Must be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science in 2002. He lives in London.

Judges: "Moving, funny, sad and intensely readable, this is a fascinating insight into the psychology of genius."
Other Shortlisted

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* The Music Room by William Fiennes (more...)
* Coda by Simon Gray (more...)
* Dancing to the Precipice by Caroline Moorehead (more...)

Costa Poetry Award
Winner: * A Scattering by Christopher Reid (more...)
Publisher: Arete Books

Lucinda Gane, Christopher Reid's wife, died in October 2005. A Scattering is his tribute to her and consists of four poetic sequences, the first written during her final illness, and the other three at intervals after her death.

Christopher Reid received the Somerset Maugham Award and the Hawthornden Prize for his first collection, Arcadia, a Chomondeley Award in 1995, and the 2000 Signal Poetry Award for his children's collection.  He has twice been nominated for the Whitbread Awards. His edition of Letters of Ted Hughes appeared in 2007.

Judges: "A life-affirming collection, full of urgency and feeling."
Other Shortlisted

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* Angels Over Elsinore by Clive James (more...)
* One Eye'd Leigh by Katharine Kilalea (more...)
* Darwin: A Life in Poems by Ruth Padel (more...)

Costa Children's Award
Winner: * The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness (more...)
Publisher: Walker Books

Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss.  Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor's new order.  But what secrets are hiding just outside of the town? And where is Viola? Is she even alive? And who are the mysterious Answer? And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode...

Patrick Ness is the author of The Knife of Never Letting Go, Book One of the Chaos Walking trilogy which won the 2008 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for the BookTrust Teenage Prize.  He has written two other books for adults and is a literary critic for the Guardian. He lives in London.

Judges: "A strikingly original and compelling work."
Other Shortlisted

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* Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd (more...)
* Troubadour by Mary Hoffman (more...)
* Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera (more...)

Children's Peace Literature Award Winners

A worthy literary prize that hides it's light under a bushel is the Psychologists for Peace (PFP) Children's Peace Literature Award. It is understandable that Psychologists are not necessarily gifted publicists which is a shame as the books that feature in this award are generally beautiful and poignant. 

The goal of this biennial Award is to promote the peaceful resolution of conflict by recognising and encouraging Australian authors of children s books with that theme. There is a $2000 prize for the award winning author.

Psychologists for Peace recognise authors who promote the peaceful resolution of conflict through their work. With children living in an increasingly threatened world, the organisation believes that it is important to present young people with constructive alternatives to violence and hostility. They believe that literature has a significant influence on children's attitudes and behaviour. Therefore, they wish to support and encourage authors whose work promotes peace and the understanding of others.

This award is coordinated by Members of the South Australian PFP Group.

The winners of the 2009 Children's Peace Literature Award were announced on 21 October 2009 by the South Australian Minister for Education, Jane Lomax-Smith MP at the launch of a Human Rights Learning in Action Showcase. If  Tragic's memory serves correctly Ms. Lomax- Smith was a former Mayor of Adelaide one on Australia's fine state capitals.

Audrey Goes to Town by Christine Harrisand Winter of Grace by Kate Constable were selected from seven short-listed books and from more than 100 entries of books for children published between 1 July 2007 and 30 June 2009. The judges felt that these two books, one for primary readers (7 - 11 years) and one for teenagers, best met the criteria for the award.

 Winter of Grace apparently falls in the genre of 'Girlfriend Fiction' - the first time that Tragic has heard of it. Fancy.

Happy 2010 everyone. Tragic is looking forward to another year of reporting on the western world's book award scene having made a significant dent in his award winning reading pile over the festive season break.  Bring on the classy literature baby!

2009 winners Psychologists for Peace (PFP) Children's Peace Literature Award

Audrey Goes to Town by Christine Harris (Little Hare Books)
Audrey and her family temporarily relocate to Beltana when Audrey's mother is expecting another baby. They board with Mrs. Patterson, known locally as Patterson's Curse (a noxious weed). She is a prickly woman who has strict rules and a list of dos and don'ts for the children. When Audrey's mother is taken suddenly to hospital, Mrs. Patterson declares that Audrey has become her "project". She wants to ensure that Audrey learns good manners, how to knit and how to behave like a lady. However she does not anticipate Audrey's perceptive response, "And you're mine. I'm looking for your good side."

A situation which could have developed into unpleasantness is slowly changed by Audrey's beguilingly honest, direct, humorous and compassionate approach to her carer. Audrey makes an effort to please. She is kind and thoughtful but does not allow herself to become a victim. Audrey acknowledges Mrs. Patterson's kind gestures and is prompt to express her gratitude. Indeed warmth and generosity are modeled by the Beltana community. Audrey's perseverance is rewarded when she realizes that Mrs. Patterson's grimness is mainly due to the sorrows she has experienced in her life. Mutual trust and appreciation develop. As Audrey says, "At first it was hard to find things on your good side. But then it got easier. You've got one, all right".

Winter of Grace by Kate Constable (Allen & Unwin)
This book deals with the unusual but important theme of the role of religious affiliations for young people trying to understand the world and human relationships. Readers are gripped by an engaging story about two Year 11 girls who keep us intrigued with action and controversy and what might happen next.

The main character Bridie is searching for a set of beliefs or ideas to make sense of life. Her encounter with Christian fundamentalism brings her into conflict with her mother and her best friend Stella, who each have reasons for rejecting organised religion. A variety of religious beliefs is portrayed, and Bridie's quest is not over by the end of the book. The underlying message is that people with different religious beliefs including atheism can all be sincere seekers after truth and an honorable code of behaviour. Bridie comes to realise she needs to think and explore for herself. Her reconciliation with Stella is based on recognising that friendship and trust allow people to disagree about religious beliefs without damaging their relationship.

The model of respect for diverse belief systems and their adherents is a timely one in our age.

2009 Other Shortlisted
Cassie - Barry Jonsberg (Allen and Unwin) - Christine Harris (Little Hare Books) - Holly hates her name, her looks and her life. She isn't inwith the right crowd and she has little hope of dating the gorgeous Raph McDonald. With Cassie staying, she has to move out of her bedroom into the tiny, smelly spare room, and she feels her life couldn't be more unfair. So when Demi, the coolest girl in school, invites Holly on a makeover shopping spree, she jumps at the chance. Even Cass can see that Holly is stretching her wings. But will she fly or fall? Before long, Holly learns that appearances can be deceptive and friendship can blossom in unexpected places... More



Ishmael and the Return of the Dugongs - Michael G Bauer (Omnibus) -Scobie, Zorzotto, Prindabel, Kingsley and Leseur are back at St Daniel's for Year Ten. Ishmael is feeling confident that he is over the worst of Ishmael Leseur's Syndrome, and withBarry Bagsley neutralised for the time being, is hoping for a smooth ride. Ages 10+. More

Josie and the Michael Street Kids - Penni Russon (Penguin)
Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley - Aaron Blabey (Penguin) - Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley are the best of friends. Butthey are different in almost every way ...Pearl likes solving mysteries and moves rather fast in the world. Charlie likes taking baths and watching his garden grow. So how can Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsely be such goods friends? A delightfully uplifting tale about self-belief, courage - and above all - the power of friendship.


Finding Darcy - Sue Lawson (Black Dog Books)

Tragic maintains a page about the award at Literary Awards Australia. Details about past winners can also be found at official site which has lifted the standard of it's award presentation this year to an acceptable standard. A wonderful initiative all round.