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Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize
The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize is the United Kingdom's first literary award for comic literature. Established in 2000 and named in honour of P. G. Wodehouse, past winners include Paul Torday in 2007 with ''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'' and Marina Lewycka with ''A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian'' 2005 and Jasper Fforde for ''The Well of Lost Plots'' in 2004. Gary Shteyngart was the first American winner in 2011. The Prize is sponsored and organized by Bollinger, a producer of sparkling wines from the Champagne region of France, and Everyman Library, a book imprint that is a division of Random House. The winner is announced at the annual Hay Festival in May and is presented with a jeroboam of Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvée and 52 volumes of the Everyman Wodehouse edition; a Gloucestershire Old Spots pig is named after the winning novel.< ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 170 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Hawks
Antony Gordon Hawksworth, MBE (born February 27, 1960), known professionally as Tony Hawks, is a British comedian and author. Early life Born in Brighton, Sussex, Hawks was educated at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School and Brighton College. Career After dropping out of a drama degree at Manchester University, Hawks appeared in the West End musical ''Lennon – A Musical Biography'' at The Astoria. By 1988, before he found chart success, he was already appearing in BBC Radio 4's ''Big Fun Show'' with Paul Merton, John Irwin and Josie Lawrence. Hawks first attempted to break into show business as a singer-songwriter, but it was with a novelty record that he had his first brush with fame; as leader of the trio Morris Minor and the Majors, he reached No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart with the Beastie Boys parody, " Stutter Rap (No Sleep til Bedtime)" in 1988. It went on to sell 220,000 copies, and reached a peak of No. 2 in Australia. The follow-up, a pastiche of Stock A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Gorman
David James Gorman (born 2 March 1971) is an English comedian, presenter, and writer. Gorman began his career writing for comedy series such as ''The Mrs Merton Show'' (1993–1998) and ''The Fast Show'' (1994–1997), and later garnered acclaim for his stand-up shows, one of which earned him a nomination for a Perrier Award. He became widely known for his ''Are You Dave Gorman?'' stage show, which he debuted at the 2000 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and of which the television adaptation was broadcast as ''The Dave Gorman Collection'' in 2001. Gorman followed ''Are You Dave Gorman?'' with several other stand-up shows or comedic concepts that were turned into television series, including ''Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure'' (2003–2005), ''Genius'' (2009–2010), and '' Modern Life Is Goodish'' (2013–2017). He has also been a guest on other shows such as '' Have I Got News for You'', '' Taskmaster'', '' Go 8 Bit'', ''They Think It's All Over'', and '' QI''. Early life Dav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lissa Evans
Felicity Kenvyn (known as Lissa Evans) is a British television director, producer, novelist and children's author. After qualifying as a doctor in 1983, Evans worked in medicine in Newcastle for four years before a brief period in stand-up, beginning with an ensemble review called "Wire Less Wireless" which played in some of the pubs in Newcastle. Evans joined BBC Radio where she was a producer of comedy programmes before migrating to television. She has produced and/or directed such shows as ''Father Ted'' (for which she won a BAFTA for best comedy), ''Room 101'', ''The Kumars at No. 42'', ''TV Heaven, Telly Hell'', ''Crossing the Floor'' (for which she won an Emmy for best drama) and '' Have I Got News For You'' and also served as voice director for the British-Canadian children's television series ''Don't Eat the Neighbours''. Evans has written six novels for adults: ''Spencer's List'', ''Odd One Out'', ''Their Finest Hour and a Half'' (now filmed as ''Their Finest'') ''Cro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Eagleton
Terence Francis Eagleton (born 22 February 1943) is an English literary theorist, critic, and public intellectual. He is currently Distinguished Professor of English Literature at Lancaster University. Eagleton has published over forty books, but remains best known for '' Literary Theory: An Introduction'' (1983), which has sold over 750,000 copies. The work elucidated the emerging literary theory of the period, as well as arguing that all literary theory is necessarily political. He has also been a prominent critic of postmodernism, publishing works such as ''The Illusions of Postmodernism'' (1996) and ''After Theory'' (2003). He argues that, influenced by postmodernism, cultural theory has wrongly devalued objectivity and ethics. His thinking is influenced by Marxism and Christianity. Formerly the Thomas Warton Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford (1992–2001) and John Edward Taylor Professor of Cultural Theory at the University of Manchester (2001†... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spies (Novel)
''Spies'' (2002) is a psychological novel by English author and dramatist Michael Frayn. It is currently studied by A-Level, and some GCSE, literature students in various schools. It is also studied by some Year 12 VCE English students in Australia. Synopsis Narrating in the form of a bildungsroman, an elderly man, Stefan Weitzler, reminisces about his life during the Second World War as he wanders down the now modernised London cul-de-sac that he once called home. Now a young boy, Stephen, regularly bullied at school and bored with his home life, is informed by his best friend Keith Hayward, a snobbish and domineering neighbour, that Keith's mother is an undercover operative working for the Germans. As the two boys spy on Mrs. Hayward from a hiding place in the hedges, they notice her unusual daily routine: leaving Keith's house with a picnic basket full of food, tapping on the window of Auntie Dee (Mrs. Hayward's sister, next-door-neighbour and best friend, whose husband, Un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Frayn
Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce ''Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy''. His novels, such as '' Towards the End of the Morning'', '' Headlong'' and ''Spies'', have also been critical and commercial successes, making him one of the handful of writers in the English language to succeed in both drama and prose fiction. He has also written philosophical works, such as ''The Human Touch: Our Part in the Creation of the Universe'' (2006). Early life Frayn was born at Mill Hill (then in Middlesex) to Thomas Allen Frayn, an asbestos salesman from a working-class family of blacksmiths, locksmiths and servants, in which deafness was hereditary, and his wife Violet Alice (née Lawson). Violet was the daughter of a failed palliasse merchant; having studied as a violinist at the Royal Academy of Music, she worked as a shop assistant and occasional clothes model at Harr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rotters' Club (novel)
''The Rotters' Club'' is a 2001 novel by British author Jonathan Coe. It is set in Birmingham during the 1970s, and inspired by the author's experiences at King Edward's School, Birmingham. The title is taken from the album '' The Rotters' Club'' by experimental rock band Hatfield and the North. The book was followed by two sequels. The book contains one of the longest sentences in English literature, with 13,955 words. ''The Rotters' Club'' was inspired by Bohumil Hrabal's ''Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age'': a Czech language novel that consisted of one great sentence. Plot summary Three teenage friends grow up in 1970s Britain watching their lives change as their world gets involved with IRA bombs, progressive and punk rock, girls and political strikes. Characters *Ben Trotter: A romantic musician and writer who has fallen for Cicely Boyd, the most beautiful pupil at the adjoining girls' school. *Philip Chase: Best friend of Ben. He is heavily into progressive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Coe
Jonathan Coe (; born 19 August 1961) is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, '' What a Carve Up!'' (1994) reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name. It is set within the "carve up" of the UK's resources that was carried out by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative governments of the 1980s. Early life and education Coe was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, on 19 August 1961 to Roger and Janet (née Kay) Coe. He studied at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He taught at the University of Warwick, where he completed an MA and PhD in English Literature. Career Coe has long been interested in both music and literature. In the mid-1980s he played with a band (The Peer Group) and tried to get a recording of his music. He also wrote songs and played keyboards for a short- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Joseph (publisher)
Michael Joseph (26 September 1897 – 15 March 1958) was a British publisher and writer. Early life and career Joseph was born in Upper Clapton, London. He served in the British Army during the First World War, and then embarked on a writing career, his first book being ''Short Story Writing for Profit'' (1923). After a period as a literary agent for Curtis Brown, Joseph founded his own publishing imprint as a subsidiary of Victor Gollancz Ltd. Gollancz invested £4000 in Michael Joseph Ltd, established 5 September 1935. Joseph and Victor Gollancz disagreed on many points and Michael Joseph bought out Gollancz Ltd in 1938 after Gollancz attempted to censor ''Across the Frontiers'' by Sir Philip Gibbs on political grounds. (Joseph published the first edition in 1938 and a revised edition the following May.) Joseph managed to build up an impressive list of authors, such as H. E. Bates, C. S. Forester, Monica Dickens, and Richard Llewellyn. Personal life Joseph married actress H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Cappuccino Years
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sue Townsend
Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole. After writing in secret from the age of 14, Townsend first became known for her plays, her signature character first appearing in a radio drama, but her work soon expanded into other forms. She enjoyed great success in the 1980s, with her Adrian Mole books selling more copies than any other work of fiction in Britain during the decade. This series, which eventually encompassed nine books, takes the form of the character's diaries. The earliest books recount the life of a teenage boy during the Thatcher years, but the sequence eventually depicts Adrian Mole in middle age. '' The Queen and I'' (1992), another popular work which was well received, was an outlet for her republican sentiments, although the Royal Family is still rendered with sympathy. Both ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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