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Translation workshop

Lewd Rude and Nude: the art of translating body parts

29th July 2009 - all welcome

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Grants and Prizes

The McKitterick Prize

Tom McKitterick, the former editor of Political Quarterly and author of an unpublished novel, endowed the McKitterick Prize which was first awarded in 1990. It is given annually to an author over the age of 40 for a first novel, published or unpublished.

The 2009 Winner: Chris Hannan for Missy (Chatto) - £4,000.

Chris Hannan was born in Glasgow and now lives in Edinburgh. He is currently writing a novel, Unearth, due in 2011, and also a new play for the Globe. His plays include the 1990 Bush Theatre hit The Evil Doers, which won a Time Out Award and a Plays and Players Critics’ Award, and the award-winning Shining Souls, which was produced by Sir Peter Hall at the Old Vic in 1997. His work has also been staged by the RSC.

The Shortlist

Rebecca Abrams for Touching Distance (Macmillan)
Gaynor Arnold for Girl in a Blue Dress (Tindal Street Press)
Sadie Jones for The Outcast (Chatto)
J. David Simons for The Credit Draper (Two Ravens Press)

Judges: Andrew Cowan, Lindsey Davis, Frances Fyfield.

Past winners

The 2010 McKitterick Prize

£4,000 for the best first novel by an author over the age of 40. This prize is endowed by the late T.E.M. McKitterick.

Entry forms will be available to download from August 2009. The NEW submissions deadline for the 2010 prize is the 31st October 2009.

Criteria for entry

  • The author must be living and over the age of 40 on 31st October 2009
  • The author must not have had any other novel published (excluding works for children)
  • The novel must be a full length work in the English language by one author (not a translation, and not a work for children)
  • The work must be a work of ‘fiction or imagination or substantially of fiction or imagination’
  • The work must either have been first published in the UK in 2009 (and not first published abroad), or be unpublished
  • If unpublished, the work must not have been previously submitted for the McKitterick Prize

How to enter

Please submit:

  • A list of the author’s other published work (if any)
  • Published novels: four copies of the book (non-returnable)
  • Unpublished novels: one copy of up to the first 30 pages of the manuscript (non-returnable)
  • An SAE marked ACK if you would like your application acknowledged
  • An SAE marked RESULT if you would like to be notified of the winner when this is announced in June 2010

Please note: manuscripts should be typed in double line spacing on single-sided A4 paper, with the author’s name stated on the first page. Only one manuscript may be submitted. Shortlisted authors will be notified by the end of May 2010 and requested to submit the entire manuscript.

Conditions of entry

There will be three judges who may call in books if they so wish. The decision of the judges (both as to eligibility and the winning entry) shall be final and they reserve the right not to award the McKitterick Prize if, in their opinion, no works entered reach a sufficiently high standard. The publishers of winning books will assist The Society of Authors in the publicity and promotion of the McKitterick Prize.