The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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Society of Authors crowns its own

19.06.08 Anna Richardson

David Szalay was awarded the Betty Trask prize at this year's Society of Authors Authors' Awards. The annual awards, which were announced yesterday evening (18th June), rewarded more than £70,000 in prize money to 23 writers.

Szalay took the main £10,000 Betty Trask  prize for his first novel London and the South-East (Cape), while Ross Raisin, Thomas Leveritt and Anna Ralph also took Betty Trask awards for their débuts, God's Own Country (Viking), The Exchange Rage Between Love and Money (Harvill Secker) and The Floating Island (Hutchinson).

Other winners included Rosemary Hill, who took the Elizabeth Longford prize for historical biography for God's Architect (Allen Lane); John Burnside, John Greening, David Harsent and Sarah Maguire who received Cholmondeley poetry awards; and Alison MacLeod who took the Olive Cook short story award for "Dirty Weekend" from Fifteen Tales of Attraction (Hamish Hamilton).

LIST OF ALL WINNERS

The Elizabeth Longford Prize for historical biography
Rosemary Hill for God’s Architect (Allen Lane)

Cholmondeley awards for poets
John Burnside, John Greening, David Harsent and Sarah Maguire

Eric Gregory Awards  for the encouragement of young poets
Emma Berry, Rhiannon Hooson, James Midgley, Adam O’Riordan and Heather
Phillipson

Olive Cook short story award
Alison MacLeod for "Dirty Weekend" (Fifteen Tales of Attraction, Hamish
Hamilton)

Somerset Maugham awards for young writers
Gwendoline Riley for Joshua Spassky (Cape), Steven Hall for The Raw Shark
Texts (Canongate), Nick Laird for On Purpose (Faber) and Adam Thirlwell for
Miss Herbert (Cape)

Travelling Scholarships
Marina Lewycka, Ruth Padel and Colin Thubron

McKitterick Prize for an unpublished novel by an author over the age of 40
Jennie Walker for 24 for 3 (CB Editons and Bloomsbury)

Betty Trask prize and awards for first novels by authors under the age of 35
Prize winner: David Szalay for London and the South-East (Cape)
Award winners: Ross Raisin for God’s Own Country (Viking), Thomas Leveritt
for The Exchange Rate Between Love and Money (Harvill Secker) and Anna Ralph
for The Floating Island (Hutchinson)

Prizes Authors Anna Richardson Society of Authors David Szalay Betty Trask Prize