The Desmond Elliott Prize is an annual award for the best
debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...
written in English and published in the UK. The winning novel can be from any genre of fiction and must exhibit depth and breadth with a compelling narrative. The winner receives . The prize is named in honour of the distinguished late publisher and literary agent,
Desmond Elliott.
History and administration
The Desmond Elliott Prize was inaugurated at the bequest of Desmond Elliott, who died in August 2003. He stipulated that his literary estate should be invested in a charitable trust that would fund a literary award "to enrich the careers of new writers". The prize is therefore dedicated to supporting and celebrating aspiring authors and their fiction.
The Desmond Elliott Prize was launched in 2007 as a biennial award for a first novel published in the UK. The inaugural prize was won by
Nikita Lalwani for her novel, ''
Gifted
Intellectual giftedness is an intellectual ability significantly higher than average. It is a characteristic of children, variously defined, that motivates differences in school programming. It is thought to persist as a trait into adult life, wi ...
'', in June 2008. After the successful launch of the prize, the trustees decided to make it an annual award.
Edward Hogan won the prize in 2009 for his novel ''Blackmoor'', Ali Shaw the 2010 prize for his novel ''The Girl with Glass Feet'' and
Anjali Joseph in 2011 for her novel ''Saraswati Park''.
The prize is administered by Emma Manderson and the trustees of
The Desmond Elliott Charitable Trust, a UK
charitable foundation
A foundation (also a charitable foundation) is a category of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that typically provides funding and support for other charitable organizations through grants, but may also engage directly in charitable act ...
. The Trust is chaired by Dallas Manderson, former Group Sales Director of the
Orion Publishing Group. He is joined by Christine Berry, a partner in the charities group at Taylor Vinters, a Cambridge-based law firm, and Liz Thomson, an arts journalist and author. Both Dallas and Christine worked with Desmond Elliott at Arlington Books.
Judging
The panel of three judges, which changes each year, is selected by the trustees of the prize.
When selecting a winner, the judges look for a novel with a compelling narrative, arresting character, and which is both vividly written and confidently realised.
Previous chairs of the prize include author
Sam Llewellyn
Sam Llewellyn (born 1948) is a British author of literature for children and adults.
Biography
Sam Llewellyn was born on Tresco, Isles of Scilly, where his ancestors lived for many years. He grew up in Norfolk. He attended Eton College and lat ...
(2012),
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Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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The prize is awarded annually for the best first full-length work of fiction written in English published in book form in the UK, written by an author whose permanent place of residence is in the UK or Ireland. Entries are considered from all fiction genres.
The prize is selected from a longlist of 10 titles, followed by a shortlist of three outstanding books. For inclusion in this shortlist, a novel must have the full support of at least one judge in whose opinion it is a valid contender for the Prize. Each shortlisted author receives a hamper from
.
The winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize is announced at an awards ceremony held at Fortnum & Mason, Desmond Elliott's local grocer.