Lesley Thomson attended a gala evening in the Stationers’ and Newspaper Makers’ Company Stationers Hall on the 21st July where A Kind of Vanishing was awarded the prize for fiction. David Walliams won the prize for Children’s Fiction. The People’s Book Prize is the brain child of the late Beryl Bainbridge who had been going to present the awards and of Tatiana Willson. Asked by Sky News what she thought of a prize judged by a jury versus readers, Lesley said that all prizes opened up opportunities for writers. Kate Mosse’s Orange prize had expanded the field for women writers.
As a child Lesley’s parents encouraged her to use public libraries so she particularly welcomed the involvement of libraries in The People’s Book Prize. She expressed the concern that government support for the Public Lending Rights, a valuable source of income to writers like herself, would be affected by the spending review in the Autumn. See highlights of the award ceremony on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3vlOj-Fo5M .
Lesley’s publishers are to reprint A Kind of Vanishing and have alerted readers that there are only a few first editions still available.
In her acceptance speech Lesley told the 150 strong audience of writers, publishers, agents and press that she was proud to be the first winner of this new prize. See The People’s Book Prize news page on http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/news.htm
Lesley accepting the Award for Fiction
(For the late Dame Beryl Bainbridge launching the Prize at the 2009 London Book Fair http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itTKF2Y3j3E )
Lesley Thomson - Winner of People's Book Prize for Fiction