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Volume 1
New Voices from a Diverse Culture
Penguin
Paperback
: 02 Nov 2006
£7.99
Synopsis
Download the 2008 decibel Penguin Prize form here.
Volume 1 contains stories from some of the UK’s brightest new literary stars, discovered through the decibel Penguin Prize for new writers from African, Caribbean and Asian backgrounds.
'Britain’s cultural diversity is bringing about an ever-richer mix of creativity in all fields of the arts. The country’s ethnic and religious make-up is already making a vivid mark on our literature, and The decibel Penguin Prize will help take this further by recognising new talent. I am proud and delighted to be its patron' David Lammy MP
Winners of the decibel Penguin prize 2007 announced
Penguin Books and Arts Council England joined forces for the second time to give new writers the opportunity to showcase their work. Decibel, an Arts Council initiative dedicated to promoting cultural diversity in the arts, and Penguin invited writers to submit non-fiction personal accounts of the experience of immigration to the UK for the competition. The winning authors will see their stories published in a Penguin anthology in November 2007.
This year's prize was judged by Simon Prosser, Publishing Director of Hamish Hamilton and Penguin; Samenua Sesher, Director of decibel; Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty Human Rights; the novelist Kate Mosse and Vivian Archer of the Newham bookshop, and chaired by Brenda Emmanus, TV presenter and BBC Arts Correspondent. All of the judges were enormously impressed by the high standard of the entries received.
Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty says:
“Participating in the judging process of Volume I was a honour and a treat. At a time when there is so much political navel-gazing about 'identity', Volume 2 is a great opportunity for the creative arts to fill the void.”
Simon Prosser, Publishing Director of Hamish Hamilton and Penguin, comments:
"I was delighted by the response to this year's prize and by the entrants' contributions on the subject of immigration to Britain - a powerful and timely theme which has produced some extremely thought-provoking personal accounts. It remains essential that all of us in the publishing industry focus on broadening the range of writing and writers published in this country, to reflect its true vibrancy and diversity."
The winning entrants were:
Jade Amoli-Jackson
Mimi Chan-Choong
Xenia Crockett
Toni Jackson
Kirti Joshi
Nina Joshi
Charmaine Joshua
Marek Kazmierski
Vesna Maric
Cosh Omar
Zlatko Pranjic
Menaka Raman
Nimer Rashed
Anita Sethi
Ali Sheikholeslami
Cliff Walker
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