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Sceptre (imprint)
Sceptre is an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, a British publishing house which is a division of Hachette UK. Founded in 1986 as the literary imprint of Hodder & Stoughton, Sceptre’s remit is to publish original fiction and non-fiction that aims not just to entertain and absorb but also to stretch the mind: to be thought-provoking, stimulating, surprising and enlightening. Notable publications * David Mitchell :''- Cloud Atlas'' (2004) - winner of the British Book Awards Literary Fiction Award, ''Richard & Judy'' Book of the Year Award, shortlisted for the 2004 Booker Prize, Nebula Award, and Arthur C. Clarke Award. Adapted into a film (2012) of the same name, starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry. :- ''The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet'' (2010) - winner of the 2011 Commonwealth Writers' Prize regional prize, long-listed for the Booker Prize, shortlisted for the 2011 Walter Scott Prize. *Thomas Keneally :- ''Schindler's Ark'' (1982) - winner of the Booker Prize, adapted into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sceptre Logo
A sceptre is a Staff of office, staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of regalia, royal or imperial insignia. Figuratively, it means royal or imperial authority or sovereignty. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The ''Was (sceptre), Was'' and other types of staves were signs of authority in Ancient Egypt. For this reason they are often described as "sceptres", even if they are full-length staffs. One of the earliest royal sceptres was discovered in the Second dynasty of Egypt, 2nd Dynasty tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos, Egypt, Abydos. Kings were also known to carry a staff, and Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called ''mks''-staff. The staff with the longest history seems to be the ''heqa''-sceptre (the "shepherd's crook"). The sceptre also assumed a central role in the Mesopotamian world, and was in most cases part of the royal insignia of sovereigns and gods. This is valid throughout the whole History of Mesopotamia, Mes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best First Book prize was awarded from 1989 to 2011. In addition the Commonwealth Short Story Competition was awarded from 1996 to 2011. Beginning in 2012, Commonwealth Foundation discontinued its previous awards and created a new cultural initiative called Commonwealth Writers, which offered two new awards: the Commonwealth Book Prize for the best first book, in which regional winners received £2,500 and the overall winner received £10,000; and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the best short stories, in which regional winners received £1,000 and the overall winner received £5,000. After two years, the Book Prize was discontinued. The Short Story Prize remains the sole award from Commonwealth Writers. Commonwealth Short Story Prize ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pure (Miller Novel)
''Pure'' is a 2011 novel by English author Andrew Miller. The book is the sixth novel by Miller and was released on 9 June 2011 in the United Kingdom through Sceptre, an imprint of Hodder & Stoughton. The novel is set in pre-revolutionary France and the upcoming turmoil is a consistent theme throughout. It follows an engineer named Jean-Baptiste Baratte and chronicles his efforts in clearing an overfilled graveyard which is polluting the surrounding area. Baratte makes friends and enemies as the cemetery is both loved and hated by the people of the district. Miller was inspired to write about the Les Innocents Cemetery after reading historian Philippe Ariès's brief description of its clearing and imagining the theatrics that must have been involved. The novel received positive reviews, particularly noting the quality of writing. The novel was awarded the Costa Book Award 2011 for "Best Novel" and "Book of the Year", and was nominated for the Walter Scott Prize and South Ban ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whitbread Novel Award
The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then a brewery and owner of restaurant chains, it was renamed when Costa Coffee, then a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship. The companion Costa Short Story Award was established in 2012. Costa Coffee was purchased by the Coca-Cola Company in 2018. The awards were abruptly terminated in 2022. The awards were given both for high literary merit but also for works that are enjoyable reading and whose aim is to convey the enjoyment of reading to the widest possible audience. As such, they were considered a more populist literary prize than the Booker Prize, which also limits winners to literature written in the UK and Ireland. Awards were separated into six categories: Biography, Children's Books, First Novel, Novel, Poetry, and Sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxygen (Miller Novel)
''Oxygen'' is the third novel by English author, Andrew Miller, released on 6 September 2001 through Sceptre. Although the novel received mixed reviews, it was shortlisted for both a Man Booker Prize and a Whitbread Award in 2001. Plot Set in San Fernando Valley and Hungary in 1997, the story revolves around a late-stage cancer patient, Alice; her two markedly different sons, one a translator, the other a soap star; and a seemingly unconnected Hungarian playwright named László Lázár. The plot centres on the family's troubles and the sons coming to terms with the fact that their mother will likely not see another birthday. Reception The novel was relatively well received, with critics praising Miller's eloquent prose and rich characters, and detractors criticising the novel's unresolved ending and simple plot. Alfred Hickling, writing for ''The Guardian'', praised Miller's "piteous and poetic" evocation of the subject of Alice's cancer and stated: "Most fiction catalogues i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ingenious Pain
''Ingenious Pain'' is the first novel by English author, Andrew Miller, published in 1997. Set in the mid-18th century, the novel follows the picaresque adventures of James Dyer, an Englishman born without the ability to feel pain or pleasure. It won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, the International Dublin Literary Award, and the Italian ''Premio Grinzane Cavour'' prize for a foreign language novel. The novel was also listed on the ''New York Times'' "Notable Books of the Year" for 1997. Plot The novel opens in 1771 with the autopsy of James Dye by two gentleman surgeons keen on understanding the deceased's famed inability to feel physical pain. The pair had been given access to the corpse by the Reverend Lestrade, hunting enthusiast and vicar to a country parish. The story then rewinds to the night of James's conception on a midwinter night in 1739 when his mother is raped by a stranger while skating at night. She gives birth to an infant whose failure to cry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Miller (novelist)
Andrew Brooke Miller FRSL (born 29 April 1960) is an English novelist. Life and career Miller was born in Bristol. He grew up in the West Country and has lived in Spain, Japan, Ireland and France. He was educated at Dauntsey's School, and after gaining a first-class degree in English at Middlesex Polytechnic, completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 1991. In 1995 he wrote a PhD in Critical and Creative Writing at Lancaster University. For his first book '' Ingenious Pain'' he received three awards, the James Tait Black Memorial Award for Fiction, the International Dublin Literary Award; and the Grinzane Cavour Prize in Italy. The book has been translated into 36 languages. Miller currently lives in Witham Friary in Somerset with his daughter Frieda. Bibliography * '' Ingenious Pain'' (1997, Sceptre) * ''Casanova'' (1998, Sceptre) * ''Oxygen'' (2001, Sceptre) * '' The Optimists'' (2005, Sceptre) * '' One Morning Like a Bird'' (2008, Sceptre) * ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prime Minister's Literary Award
The Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards (PMLA) were announced at the end of 2007 by the incoming First Rudd ministry following the 2007 election. They are administered by the Minister for the Arts.Call for entries (22 February 2008) The awards were designed as "a new initiative celebrating the contribution of Australian literature to the nation's cultural and intellectual life." The awards are held annually and initially provided a tax-free prize of A$100,000 in each category, making it Australia's richest literary award in total. In 2011, the prize money was split into $80,000 for each category win ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miles Franklin Award
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–1954), who is best known for writing the Australian classic ''My Brilliant Career'' (1901). She bequeathed her estate to fund this award. As of 2016, the award is valued A$60,000. __TOC__ Winners Controversies Author Frank Moorhouse was disqualified from consideration for his novel Grand Days because the story was set in Europe during the 1920s and was not sufficiently Australian. 1995 winner Helen Darville, also known as Helen Demidenko and Helen Dale, won for The Hand that signed the Paper and sparked a debate about authenticity in Australian literature. Darville claimed to be of Ukrainian descent and said it was fiction based on family history. Writer David Marr, who presented the award to her said that revelations about her true ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Widow And Her Hero
''The Widow and Her Hero'' is a novel by the Australian author Thomas Keneally set in Australia during World War II. Notes * Dedication: "To the Coverdales - Alex, Rory, Craig, Margaret. With the Author's love." Awards and nominations * Miles Franklin Literary Award, 2008: longlisted * New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, 2008: shortlisted * Prime Minister's Literary Awards The Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards (PMLA) were announced at the end of 2007 by the incoming First Rudd ministry following the 2007 election. They are administered by the Minister for the Arts. Reviews * ''The Age'[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spielberg is the recipient of various accolades, including three Academy Awards, a Kennedy Center honor, a Cecil B. DeMille Award, and an AFI Life Achievement Award. Seven of his films been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. He moved to California and studied film in college. After directing several episodes for television including ''Night Gallery'' and '' Columbo'', he directed the television film ''Duel'' (1971) which gained acclaim from critics and audiences. He made his directorial film debut with ''The Sugarland Express'' (1974), and became a household name with the 1975 summer blockbuster ''Jaws''. He then directed box office succe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schindler's List
''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel ''Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film follows Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist who saved more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during World War II. It stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as SS officer Amon Göth, and Ben Kingsley as Schindler's Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern. Ideas for a film about the ''Schindlerjuden'' (Schindler Jews) were proposed as early as 1963. Poldek Pfefferberg, one of the ''Schindlerjuden'', made it his life's mission to tell Schindler's story. Spielberg became interested when executive Sidney Sheinberg sent him a book review of ''Schindler's Ark''. Universal Pictures bought the rights to the novel, but Spielberg, unsure if he was ready to make a film about the Holoca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
