The New Angle Prize for Literature is a £2,500 biennial award for a book of literary merit set in or influenced by the region of East Anglia.
The 2019 winner, announced on Wednesday 3rd July, was Anna Mackmin’s “Devoured” (Propolis, May 2018).
The Runner-up was Esther Morgan’s “The Wound Register” (Bloodaxe Books, March 2018).
A Readers’ Choice competition, sponsored by Friends of Ipswich County Library, was won by Melissa Harrion’s “All Among the Barley” (Bloomsbury, August 2018).
For more information and updates follow the New Angle Prize for Literature Twitter account @PrizeNewAngle
The press release announcing the award winners can be read here.
Shortlist
2019 Shortlist (with judges’ comments):
Low Country, Brexit on the Essex Coast by Tom Bolton
“A mapping of the area and an unrolling of Britain against the backdrop of Brexit … a gripping narrative.” (Penned in the Margins 2018)
Self & I by Matthew de Abaitua
“A beguiling memoir of the author’s time as the writer Will Self’s assistant living in a remote Suffolk cottage. A funny and thoughtful book.”(Eye Books 2018)
All Among the Barley by Melissa Harrison
“A beautifully written story of a young girl’s tragic move into adulthood in an isolated Suffolk farming community in the years before the Second World War.” (Bloomsbury 2018)
Devoured by Anna Mackmin
“An intriguing world of hippies, communes and childhood collide in this riotous story which manages dark themes with humour, tenderness and grace.” (Propolis 2018)
The Wound Register by Esther Morgan
“A book of poems influenced by the Casualty Book of the Norfolk Regiment in the First World War – Morgan’s East Anglian family history and present life as a mother is woven into the poems.”(Bloodaxe Books 2016)
The Great Level by Stella Tillyard
“This mesmerizing and complex novel shines its light on the engineering feats of land reclamation in the fens in the 17th century.” (Chatto & Windus 2018)
Judges: Julia Blackburn, Amanda Hodgkinson, Andrew Burton.
Previous Winners
2019 Shortlist (with judges’ comments):
2017 – Judges; Midge Gillies, Steve Russell, Kate Worsley
Winner Threads, The Delicate Life of John Craske Julia Blackburn, Jonathan Cape 2015
Runner-up The Crime Writer Jill Dawson, Hodder & Stoughton 2016
Suffolk Libraries Readers’ Choice Sandlands Rosie Thornton, Sandstone Press 2016
2015 – Judges; Carol Bundock, Jules Pretty, Katie Ward
Winner She Rises Kate Worsley, Bloomsbury 2014
Runner-up The Time by the Sea Ronald Blythe, Faber & Faber 2013
2013 – Judges; Dr Jo Catling, Esther Freud, Jim Kelly
Winner This Luminous Coast Jules Pretty, Full Circle Editions 2011
Runner-up Tide Lines Ian Collins, Jardine Press 2012
Readers’ Choice 22 Britannia Road Amanda Hodgkinson, Penguin 2011
2011 – Judges; Mark Cocker, Nicci Gerrard, Gill Lowe
Winner Death Watch, Jim Kelly, Penguin Books 2010
Runner-up Aftermath, Ronald Blythe, Black Dog Books 2010
Readers’ Choice The Aldeburgh Scallop, Maggi Hambling, Full Circle Editions 2010
2009 – Judges; Ronald Blythe, Anne Parry, D J Taylor
Winner Crow Country, Mark Cocker, Jonathan Cape 2007
Runner-up What I Was, Meg Rosoff, Penguin Books 2008
Highly Commended Notes from Walnut Tree Farm, Roger Deakin, Penguin Books 2008