Photographer takes top accolade at Lakeland Book of the Year Awards
Phil Rigby’s Portrait of Cumbria is the 34th Hunter Davies Lakeland Book of the Year, one of the most prestigious literary awards outside London.
Photographer Phil, whose book was chosen from almost 50 entries, was celebrated as the overall victor alongside five other category winners at a charity event in support of St Mary’s Hospice, Ulverston which took place at the Castle Green Hotel, Cumbria.
Celebrating Writers in Cumbria
The judges, author and columnist Hunter Davies OBE, broadcaster and Cumbria Tourism Chairman Eric Robson and BBC newscaster and author Fiona Armstrong, entertained 150 attendees as they discussed the finalists before celebrating the winners.
Following the announcement, Phil Rigby said, “I am thrilled and delighted to win this year’s Lakeland Book of the Year Award. The book wouldn’t have come about without the amazing team at Cumbria Life Magazine, who each month discover new characters and places in Cumbria for me to photograph.”
Richard Bracewell, Marketing Director at James Cropper Paper, added: “It has been a privilege to be able to support the Lakeland Book of the Year, an annual highlight in Cumbria’s events calendar. The awards celebrate writing and publishing in Cumbria, and underline the longstanding literary heritage of the County that continues to inspire to this day.”
Whilst the awards enrich the cultural profile of Cumbria, they have also raised thousands of pounds in funding for charity.
Hard-Back Book Board Supplier
The continued partnership with James Cropper is particularly appropriate, as virtually all hard-backed books published in the UK are bound using paper produced by the James Cropper mill here in Cumbria.
The winning entries are:
The Hunter Davies Lakeland Book of the Year 2018
Portrait of Cumbria by Phil Rigby
http://www.bookscumbria.com/cgi-bin/trolleyed_public.cgi?action=showprod_6286
The Zeffirellis Prize for People and Business
The Thunder of Guns by Alan Michael Whitworth
The Striding Edge Prize for Guides and Places
The Yards of Kendal by Trevor Hughes and Arthur Nicholls
The Bill Rollinson Prize for Landscape and Tradition
The Story of Lowther by Charlotte Fairbairn
The Latitude Press Prize for Illustration and Presentation
Portrait of Cumbria by Phil Rigby
The Bookends Prize for Art and Literature
The Blackbird Diaries by Karen Lloyd
