On Tuesday 3rd October at midday the public are invited to attend the second Isle of Wight Book Awards Grand Literary Lunch at the Island Sailing Club in Cowes. Now affiliated with the Isle of Wight Literary Festival, the launch will be the initial event of this year’s festival.
From a healthy selection of entries of books published in 2022 the three category judges, best-selling authors Georgina Moore (fiction), Alan Tichmarsh (children’s) and Hunter Davies (non-fiction) have each selected their top three titles. All nine on the shortlist will receive a certificate, with the winner of each category receiving £200, the ‘Book Of The Year’ will receive an additional £500.
Supporting Independent Arts
The judges will award the prizes following a three-course meal and a presentation from this year’s selected charity Independent Arts, an organisation that for over 35 years have been doing a fantastic job of using the arts to help and support some of the most vulnerable people on our Island, from the young to the elderly.
Funds for the charity will be raised by a raffle with a chance of winning one of many great prizes including:
- Family ticket to Wildheart Animal Sanctuary
- Chase Gin Collection from Wine Therapy
- A selection from The Island Gin Company
- £50 giftcard for The Garden restaurant Cowes
- Selection of books from Medina Bookshop
Encouraging new and established authors to keep writing
The objective of the awards is to encourage new and established authors to keep writing and developing their art, breathing fresh life into the Island’s rich literary heritage. Last year’s awards proved that you don’t have to be a novelist with a big publisher to win prizes, with all three winners being either self published or with small imprints.
The awards are non-profit making and are generously supported by Hovertravel, The Isle of Wight Music Festival and David and Patsy Franks, as well as the Isle of Wight Literary Festival, Medina Bookshop in Cowes and Monkton Arts in Ryde.
Buy your ticket
Tickets for this year’s awards are available to all at £37.50 and include a glass of fizz on arrival and a three course meal.
The event should last around three hours and tickets can be purchased from the Island Sailing Club.
News shared by Paul on behalf of Isle of Wight Book Awards. Ed
