Lakeland Book of the Year Hungry for Success
Guardian and Masterchef food critic Grace Dent’s autobiography Hungry has been named the 2021 Lakeland Book of the Year.
Presented last week at the Roundthorn Country House Hotel, the book, detailing the food personality’s life andexperiences, impressed the judges with it’s honest and entertaining account of growing up in
Carlisle. Posting on Twitter, Carlisle-born Grace, who also received the The Zefirellis Prize for People & Business, said that she was “thrilled” to receive the prize for Hungry, which includes details of her early years growing up in Carlisle as part of a moving personal memoir.
Chosen from over 70 entries covering almost every conceivable category from wild swimming to Cumbria’s incredibly diverse history, Hungry was celebrated alongside five other category winners at a charity lunch in support of the Stroke Association, with the attendees raising over £600 for the cause on the day, with additional donations still coming in.
The awards, supported by James Cropper, have continued uninterrupted for 37 years (with the 2020 event taking place virtually) and celebrate the breath-taking variety of top-quality writing inspired by Cumbria and the Lake District. Open to any book set in or featuring the county and published the previous year, previous winners have included Rory Stewart, James Rebanks and Alfred Wainwright. Now in their 37th year, the Lakeland Book of the Year awards are unique and recognised as being the most prestigious literary prizes outside London. Open to new writers, as well as established authors, and with the only caveat they must feature Cumbria in some way, this year’s submissions once again highlight the huge variety of both the county and the literary genre.
It has once again been a privilege to be able to support the Lakeland Book of the Year. The awards celebrate writing and publishing in Cumbria, and underline the longstanding literary heritage of the County that continues to inspire to this day.Richard Bracewell, Marketing Director at James Cropper Paper
The judges, author and columnist Hunter Davies OBE, renowned broadcaster and Cumbria Tourism President Eric Robson OBE and BBC newscaster, presenter and author Fiona Armstrong, entertained over 70 guests with their thoughts and insights on the 18-strong shortlist before announcing the six winners of 2021.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.
Whilst the awards enrich the cultural profile of Cumbria, they have also raised thousands of pounds in funding for charity.
The 2021 winners are:
The Zefirellis Prize for People & Business - Hungry, Grace Dent
The Bill Rollinson Prize for Landscapes and Traditions - Swimming Wild in the Lake District, Suzanna Cruickshank
The Striding Edge Prize for Guides and Places - English Pastoral: An Inheritance, James Rebanks
The Latitude Press Prize for Illustration and Presentation - Terry Abraham: Life On The Mountains, Terry Abraham
The Bookends Prize for Literature & Poetry - Radical Wordsworth, Jonathan Bate
The Gilpin Hotel and Lake Prize for Fiction - Dead Ringer, Nicola Martin
