The Desmond Elliott Prize 2012

The Prize for New Fiction

2012 JUDGES ANNOUNCED

www.desmondelliottprize.com

The Desmond Elliott Prize will celebrate its fifth anniversary with a panel of judges chaired by one of Desmond Elliott’s own protégés, the critically acclaimed author Sam Llewellyn. He will be joined on the 2012 panel by Tom Gatti, Deputy Editor of The Times’ Review section and Caroline Mileham, Head of Books at Play.com.

When publisher and literary agent Desmond Elliott died in August 2003, he stipulated that his estate should be invested in a charitable trust that would fund a literary award “to enrich the careers of new writers”. The Desmond Elliott Prize was launched in 2008 and has subsequently awarded £40,000 to four debut novelists.

Sam Llewellyn, whose first five novels were published by Desmond Elliott, comments:

“I remember Desmond with great affection, and I’m delighted to have been asked to be Chairman of the judges in this the fifth year of the Prize. He was enormously encouraging to me as a new writer. It is a real delight to have the chance to pass on some of that enthusiasm to other new writers through the prize that bears his name.”

This year’s panel joins an illustrious list of former judges including Edward Stourton (2011), Elizabeth Buchan and James Daunt (2010) and Geordie Greig (2008). They will be looking for a confidently realised first novel with a compelling narrative. The work should be vividly written and should contain original and arresting characters. The longlist of up to 12 titles will be announced in April 2012, followed by a shortlist of three titles in May.  The winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize 2012 will be announced at an award ceremony at Fortnum & Mason, London, on 28 June 2012.

The 2011 winner was Anjali Joseph for Saraswati Park, published by Fourth Estate. Other winners of the Prize were: The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw (2010); Blackmoor by Edward Hogan (2009) and Gifted by Nikita Lalwani (2008).

About the judges

Sam Llewellyn (Chair)

Sam Llewellyn has worked as a novelist, columnist and editor ever since Desmond Elliott commissioned his first novel in 1976. His work is informed by a life-long obsession with the sea, which has taken him all over the world in boats large and small. Several of his books are set in his native Isles of Scilly. His children’s books include the Little Darlings series, written as an antidote to Peter Pan; and the Lyonesse series, a reimagining of the Arthurian canon set during the sinking of the British Atlantis. He is a contributor of articles about travel, gardens and boats to the Daily Telegraph. His columns in yachting magazines are read by a quarter of a million people every month. His column in Hortus, ‘Britain’s most intelligent gardening magazine’ attracts a steady fan mail, some of it from dukes. He is Editor and Publisher of the Marine Quarterly, a journal of the sea.

Tom Gatti

Tom Gatti joined The Times in 2003 and is currently Deputy Editor of the Saturday Review section. He also writes book reviews, interviews and arts features for the paper. He has judged the Booktrust Teenage Book Prize and chaired events at the Asia House Festival of Asian Literature and The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival.

Caroline Mileham

Caroline Mileham is Head of Books at Play.com. She started her career on the Buying team at Waterstone’s Head Office and went on to become the company’s Fiction and Non-Fiction Manager, responsible for all central buying and promotions for these areas. She moved to Borders as Head of Books in 2005 and spent two years there before moving to her current role at Play.com.

  

About Desmond Elliott

Desmond Elliott’s life reads like a page-turning rags to riches story. From humble beginnings in an Irish orphanage he came to England in 1947, at the age of 16 with just £2 in his pocket, to start his publishing career at Macmillan. After a colourful career in-house, Desmond set up as an agent and subsequently went on to establish his own publishing company, Arlington Books, in 1960.

This dedication, coupled with creative business sense, was key to the creation of a list of hugely successful blockbuster novelists; Jilly Cooper, Leslie Thomas and Penny Vincenzi, to name but a few. Respected and loved by his authors, in the words of Candida Lycett Green, Desmond was simply “magic”.

Charismatic, witty, and waspish, Elliott lived his life with verve.  He drank only champagne, always crossed the Atlantic on Concorde and used Fortnum & Mason as his local shop. His office was in Mayfair and he had homes in London’s St. James’s and New York’s Park Avenue.  Desmond Elliott died in August 2003 at the age of 73.