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Canadian Hill takes Commonwealth prize

19.05.08 Anna Richardson

Canadian Lawrence Hill and Bangladeshi Tahmima Anam have won this year's Commonwealth writers' prizes.  Hill won the overall best book for The Book of Negroes (HarperCollins Canada), while Anam took the overall best first book prize for A Golden Age (John Murray).

As well as winning the £10,000 prize, Hill will travel to London for an audience with the Queen, head of the Commonwealth. He will also meet with Commonwealth secretary general Kamalesh Sharma and give a reading from his book at Foyles' Charing Cross Road. Anam takes home £5,000.

Mark Collins, director of the Commonwealth Foundation, which sponsors the awards, said, "The two overall winning books are manifestly important works, and demand wider attention and readership. This Prize will help those stories spread. The whole week, which has seen the regional winning writers and the judges interact with readers, writers and students in diverse communities across South Africa, shows the reach and range of this prize."

The awards, which recognise the best Commonwealth fiction written in English, were announced at the Franschhoek Literary Festival in South Africa on 18th May.

Media Anna Richardson Prize Global Commonwealth Writers' Prizes

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