What does it take to win a Nibbie?
March 25, 2009
AUTHORS aged in their 40s are in pole position to win a 2009 Galaxy British Book Award based on recent history, with 44% of winners over the last five years in this age group.
Nominees for Crime Thriller of the Year, the Popular Fiction Award, Children's Book of the Year, and the coveted Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year should be especially hopeful of taking first prize if they are in this age group, which has scooped 70% of the awards in these categories in recent years. So this year Eoin Colfer (born 1965) is in with a good shot for the children's category; as is Kate Summerscale in the Best Read category (born 1965) and Marian Keyes for the Popular Fiction Award (born 1963).
In the past, elder statesmen and women of the book world could also bank on being in with a shout of the Outstanding Achievement Award. But not anymore. The last three winners of this prestigious prize had an average age of 41. Recent recipients Jamie Oliver and JK Rowling were 34 and 44 respectively at the time of winning, proving that success comes to the young. The identity of this year's recipient is still under wraps… will he or she buck the trend?
When the camera pans to the nominees for Outstanding Achievement, Author of the Year and Biography of the Year, look out for the smug expressions on the faces of any male candidates, since previous years tell us that men have a 4 to 1 chance of snatching each of these prizes. Dawn French and Julie Walters may have something to say about that however, as they are both strong contenders in the biography category.
On the other hand, any male writers up for the Newcomer or Popular Fiction Awards may wish to head for the bar when these prizes are announced, since no man has won either award in any of the last five years. The competition is looking tough again on this year's Popular Fiction shortlist with four of the six slots taken by women; but Sebastian Faulks and Bernard Cornwell won't go down without a fight in the Battle of the Sexes.
Men will have a chance to get their own back however. A male author should be in line for the Crime Thriller award in 2009, since the winners tend to alternate between men and women; and this year odds are in favour of men with four out of the six shortlisted authors being male.
Being born outside the UK does no harm to a writer's chances of grabbing a Galaxy British Book Award, with a third of prizewinners since 2004 hailing from other shores. While the Brits have dominated the Author of the Year category in recent years, they have never won the Popular Fiction Awards, while American authors lead their British rivals 3 to 2 in the Richard & Judy Best Read of the Year category. This year only 2 of 6 of the shortlisted Authors of the Year are UK based, namely Rose Tremain and Diana Athill, who will fend off Aravind Adiga (India), Sebastian Barry (Ireland) and Stephenie Meyer and Barack Obama (US).