Bridport prize
Encyclopedia
Kate Atkinson
Kate Atkinson MBE is an English author.She was born in York, and studied English Literature at the University of Dundee, gaining her Masters Degree in 1974. She subsequently studied for a doctorate in American Literature. She has often spoken publicly about the fact that she failed at the viva ...
(a short story winner in 1990) said that it was very important, confirming that she had found her "voice". Her short story went on to become the first chapter of her novel, "Behind the Scenes at the Museum", winner of the 1995 Whitbread Book of the Year. She returned to judge the Short Story section in 2001.
Other noteworthy names include Helen Dunmore
Helen Dunmore
Helen Dunmore is a British poet, novelist and children's writer. Educated at the University of York, she now lives in Bristol....
(also a 1990 winner) whose "Spell of Winter" won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 1996; Tobias Hill
Tobias Hill
Tobias Hill is an award-winning British poet, essayist, writer of short stories and novelist.-Life:Tobias Hill was born in Kentish Town, in North London, to parents of German Jewish and English extraction: his maternal grandfather was the brother of Gottfried Bermann, confidant of Thomas Mann and,...
, a winner in both categories (poetry 1994, short story 1996), Tessa Biddington
Tessa Biddington
Tessa Biddington, is a British poet.-Life:Biddington works as a freelance trainer, raising awareness about domestic violence. She began writing in 1996. Her poetry has appeared in The New Welsh Review...
, a winner in 2000, who made it onto the short list for The Forward Prize and gained an agent for her forthcoming novel, Linda Leatherbarrow
Linda Leatherbarrow
Linda Leatherbarrow is a British short story writer and illustrator. Her stories have been published in her collection, Essential Kit and many magazines including Ambit, Cosmopolitan, Mslexia and Writing Women, and in several anthologies...
a winner in 2001 who has since appeared in many publications, plus many others.
The prize money and entry fees have risen over the years as well and now the first prize for poems and short stories is £5,000, second prize £1,000 and third prize £500. An additional 10 supplementary prizes (for each category) of £50 each are awarded. The new category of Flash Fiction has a first prize of £1000, second prize £500 and third £250 as well as 3 supplementary prizes of £25.The entry fee for the year 2011 is £5 per flash, £6 per poem and £7 per story. The top four poems are entered for the Forward Prize for Poetry (Best Single Poem), an award not open to the general public. The top 13 stories (British citizens only) are submitted to the National Short Story Prize.
The Bridport Prize is a fund raiser for the Bridport Arts Centre
Bridport Arts Centre
The Bridport Arts Centre is based in the heart of the West Dorset market town of BridportBridport
Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England. Located near the coast at the western end of Chesil Beach at the confluence of the River Brit and its Asker and Simene tributaries, it originally thrived as a fishing port and rope-making centre...
. It has a 200-seat theatre, three exhibition spaces plus a café and bar.
The Bridport Arts Centre's annual festival has talks, readings, discussions and performances in venues around the town.
Short Story
Each year links to its corresponding "[year] in literature" article:- 20092009 in literatureThe year 2009 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*8 October - Romanian-born German novelist Herta Müller wins the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature....
: Jenny Clarkson, "Something" - 20082008 in literatureThe year 2008 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*January 1 - In the 2008 New Year Honours, Hanif Kureishi , Jenny Uglow , Peter Vansittart and Debjani Chatterjee are all rewarded for "services to literature".*June 15 - Gore Vidal, asked in a New York Times...
: Elaine Chiew, "Face" - 20072007 in literatureThe year 2007 in literature involves some significant new books.-Events:*November 19 - First Kindle e-book reader released.*December 11 - Terry Pratchett informs fans on-line that he has been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.-Literature:...
: Graham MortGraham MortGraham Mort 'is acknowledged as one of contemporary verse's most accomplished practitioners'. He is the author of seven volumes of poetry and has written short fiction and radio drama for BBC Radio 4....
, "The Prince" - 20062006 in literatureThe year 2006 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Literature:*Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun*Chris Adrian - The Children's Hospital *Martin Amis - House of Meetings...
: Elizabeth Dalton, "Rue de Vaugirard" - 20052005 in literatureThe year 2005 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*February 25 - Canada Reads selects Rockbound by Frank Parker Day as the novel to be read across the nation....
: Clare Scurfield, "Taking Off" - 20042004 in literatureThe year 2004 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Canada Reads selects Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing to be read across the nation....
: Dorene O'Brien, "#12 Dagwood on Rye" - 20032003 in literatureThe year 2003 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Peter Ackroyd - The Clerkenwell Tales*Atsuko Asano - No...
: Jonathan Haylett, "The Crossing" - 20022002 in literatureThe year 2002 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*March 16: Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested and jailed poet Abdul Mohsen Musalam and fired a newspaper editor following the publication of Musalam's poem The Corrupt on Earth that criticized the state's Islamic...
: Lynsey White, "Amore" - 20012001 in literatureThe year 2001 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The film version of J. R. R. Tolkien's classic book, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, is released to movie theaters...
: Chris HillChris HillChris Hill is a British disc jockey. He worked at the club Lacy Lady in Ilford, as well as at the Goldmine Canvey Island. He was the head of the 'Soul Mafia' in London and the South East of England into the early 1980s. In 1975 he released a "break-in" novelty record, in the style of Dickie...
, "The Runner" - 20002000 in literatureThe year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published...
: Victoria Worsley, "Giddy, Stick and the Beach Hut"
Poetry
Each year links to its corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:- 2010 in poetry2010 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 19 - For the first time since 1949, an anonymous black-clad man, known as the Poe Toaster, failed to show up at the tomb of Edgar Allan Poe at the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, early...
: Esther Morgan, "This Morning"
- 20092009 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 5 – The Turkish government announces it will posthumously restore the citizenship it had stripped from influential poet Nazim Hikmet, a Marxist who died in 1963 as an exile in the Soviet...
: Dore KiesselbachDore KiesselbachDore Kiesselbach is an American poet.He graduated from at Oberlin College in 1988, and the University of Iowa.His work appeared in Carolina Quarterly, Cimarron Review, South Carolina Review, Mid-American Review, Poetry East and Barrow Street.He is married to Karin Ciano; they live in...
, "Non-invasive" - 20082008 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* June — the release in the United Kingdom of a new film, The Edge of Love, Dylan Thomas' relationship with two women, starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys *...
: Anne StewartAnne StewartAnne Stewart is a British poet, and also a reviewer, and provider of services to poets and poetry organisations.-Life:She has a 25 year career in Accounting, Project Management, Training & Mentoring, IT & Systems Development...
, "Still Water, Orange, Apple, Tea" - 20072007 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* March 5: a car bomb was exploded on Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. This locale is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a winding...
: Christopher BuehlmanChristopher BuehlmanChristopher Buehlman is a playwright, poet and comedian from St. Petersburg, Florida.-Life:He was adopted in 1969 by a family in St...
, "Wanton" - 20062006 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* French public notary Patrick Huet unveils Pieces of Hope to the Echo of the World in Lyon...
: Anthony SniderAnthony SniderAnthony Snider is an American poet.He has a Ph.D. in forestry from North Carolina State University, and MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts....
, "Panegyric" - 20052005 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* October 7 — Celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the first reading of Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl were staged in San Francisco, New York City, and in Leeds in the UK...
: Carole BromleyCarole Bromley-Life:Carole has degrees from University of Reading, and University of York, as well as an M Phil. in Writing from the University of Glamorgan.Carole Bromley has been writing for about ten years...
, "The Lovers" - 20042004 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* April 1 — Foetry.com Web site is launched for the announced purpose of "Exposing fraudulent contests. Tracking the sycophants...
: William HamptonWilliam Hampton (poet)William Hampton is a British poet.-Life:William took a degree in Religion with Literature from Bristol University....
, "Encountering my first untouchables" - 20032003 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry was opened at Queens University, Belfast, this year. It houses the Heaney Media Archive, a unique record of Heaney's entire oeuvre, as well as a full catalogue of...
: Sheenagh PughSheenagh PughSheenagh Pugh is a British poet, novelist and translator who writes in the English language.-Life:Sheenagh Pugh studied languages at the University of Bristol. She now lives in Shetland but lived for many years in Cardiff and taught creative writing at the University of Glamorgan until retiring in...
, "Chocolate from the Famine Museum" - 20022002 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* After Ghazi al-Gosaibi, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Britain, publishes a poem praising a suicide bomber who had killed himself and two Israelis after blowing himself up in a supermarket; the...
: Christopher JamesChristopher James (poet)-Life:Christopher James was educated at Newcastle and the University of East Anglia, where he graduated with an MA in Creative Writing. He now lives in Suffolk with his wife, young family....
, "Walking Southward on O'Connell Street" - 20012001 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Immediately after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, W. H...
: Rowland MolonyRowland Molony-Life:Molony graduated from St John's Catholic Comprehensive School Gravesend, Kent, in 1962, and joined the RAF. He spent several years in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, where he married the artist Elizabeth Baxendale, and has two daughters. He now lives in Beer, Devon....
, "The Dying and the LIght" - 20002000 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Griffin Poetry Prize is established, with one award given each year for the best work by a Canadian poet and one award given for best work in the English language internationally.* February —...
: Linda RogersLinda RogersLinda Rogers is a Canadian poet and children's writer. She was born in Port Alice, British Columbia.A past president of the League of Canadian Poets and the Federation of BC Writers she lives in Victoria, British Columbia.-Poetry:...
, "Snail Love with Opera"