The Warwick Prize for Writing
The shortlist for the Warwick Prize was announced on February 11, 2011. It may be one of the most unusual literary awards and certainly one of the most lucrative with the winner receiving £50,000. Presented biennially, the prize is open to writers in English in any discipline for writing on a specific theme which changes for each award. The theme in 2011 is colour and the shortlist includes fiction, poetry, biology and anthropology.
Michael Rosen, chair of the judges noted that "each in their own way, the books explore color either on its own terms or as a prism through which the writing emerges".
The titles on the shortlist are:
Dazzled and Deceived: Mimicry and Camouflage by Peter Forbes explores the uses of camouflage in the natural world and describes the human use of the technique in art and war.
The Literature Police: Apartheid Censorship and its Cultural Consequences by Peter D. McDonald describes the impact of censorship during the Apartheid era.
The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna is a novel set during the civil war in Sierra Leone.
The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam follows a Russian woman on a quest to find her missing brother in Afghanistan.
What Color is the Sacred? by Michael Taussig is an anthropological exploration of colour.
White Egrets by Derek Walcott celebrates the language and life of the West Indies in poetry.
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The winner will be announced on March 22.
One thought on “The Warwick Prize for Writing”
Interesting. Quite an audacious idea – ‘themed’ awards. The shortlist brings together quite an array of titles – it would be a challenge to choose a winner….