Introduction
In this report I am writing about
Literary Awards. I will cover the importance of Literary Awards, their place in
the media, the reading public, and the novel ‘Sister’ written
by Rosamund Lupton.
Literary awards are presented in
recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. Many of
the awards are dedicated to a genre of fiction or non-fiction writing; this
could be science fiction or politics. There are also awards for several forms
of writing such as poetry and novels.
The importance of literary awards
Literary awards can be made very
successful in the media. Not only do the authors win a sum of money, they gain
acknowledgment and a much higher respect of their work. Even being nominated
can be a huge achievement. Winning a literary award provides you with a large
amount of publicity and can make you very successful amongst the media industry
by being presented with the honour.
The reading public
There is a high probability that
the public would be more interested in a prize winning book because that will
assure them that it’s incredible, whether it be mystery, non-fiction, or even
poetry. Although this may be the case, many readers may take the most interest
in the authors they already know. Just because an author hasn't received an
award for their book/novel, it doesn’t mean that the public will be less
interested in it. The publicity gained from an award will most certainly increase
the amount of readers.
'Sister' by
Rosamund Lupton
Successful novelist Rosamund
Lupton, read English Literature at Cambridge University which then lead to a
variety of jobs in London, including copywriting and reviewing for the Literary
Review. Her first book Sister was
published by Piatkus on September 2nd 2010. It was voted the best book in the
first Richard and Judy WHSmith Book Club by readers and New York Times'
best-seller. Over 600,000 copies were sold to date in the UK and Ireland, this
showed to be the winner of the Best Debut of 2011. Sister was Lupton's most
successful book.
Sister is about the bond between
sisters. When Beatrice's sister Tess goes missing, she goes to find her and
begins to learn the circumstances surrounding her sister's disappearance, which
shocks her of how little she really knows about Tess' life. Everyone accepts
they have lost Tess but Beatrice refuses to give up on her sister, as she sets
off on a dangerous journey to discover the truth she is unprepared for the
terrifying things she must now face.
The excellent mystery fiction
book Sister was the winner of Best First Novel at
the 2011 Strand Magazine Critics Awards. The Critics Awards were judged by a
select group of book critics and journalists, from news venues such as USA
Today, the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune. The awards were announced at an
invitation-only cocktail party which was hosted by The Strand on July 11 2012,
in New York City.
Conclusion
Not only do Literary Awards gain
publicity of the authors work, but also give the author a great sense of
achievement. For instance, Rosamund Lupton said: "Strand Magazine has such
an impressive history and I am honoured that Sister was chosen for this award. it means a
great deal to be selected by judges who understand and love books and from such
an impressive list of fellow novelists."
Australian author Richard
Flanagan wrote a critique of literary awards, saying juries can be influenced
by vandettas, paybacks and payoffs, "most judges are fair-minded people.
But hate, conceit and jealousy are no less human attributes than wisdom,
judgment and knowledge." The issue of book prizes sometimes competing with
one another means the goals don't always coincide with anointing the best
winner. For example, when juries can't decide between two books, they will
compromise with a third inoffensive bland book. Flanagan says there are now so
many awards and prices it has diluted the prestige of being a prize winning
book. I share the same views on literary awards as Flanagan because although he
is not against literary awards, he believes they should not be taken too
seriously as a form of support for literary culture.
Bibliography
