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Coventry University hosts the Booker Prize shortlisted authors at special event
University news / City of Culture 2021
Wednesday 27 October 2021
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Book lovers in Coventry had the chance to meet some of the world’s finest authors as Coventry University hosted a Booker Prize event on 29 October.
The university’s city centre campus, right in the heart of the UK City of Culture 2021, held the evening of readings and conversation with the authors shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize, with free tickets available to the public.
Chaired by Lemn Sissay, the event brought together Anuk Arudpragasam, Damon Galgut , Patricia Lockwood, Nadifa Mohamed and Maggie Shipstead, with a special recording from the final shortlisted author, Richard Powers.
In the afternoon, Coventry University students and students from other colleges, schools and universities also had the unique and exciting opportunity to work with Patricia Lockwood, Maggie Shipstead, Anuk Arudpragasam, Damon Galgut and Nadifa Mohamed at the Square One venue in the lead up to the evening event.
Students were able to listen to the authors being interviewed, reading from their works and talking about the novels that have shaped their careers.
The Booker Prize is the leading literary award in the English-speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over five decades.
Each year, the prize is awarded to what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best novel of the year written in English and published in the UK and Ireland. Both the winner and the shortlisted authors are guaranteed a global readership and can expect a dramatic increase in book sales.
The Booker Prize is one of the highest-profile and most coveted arts/cultural prizes in the UK. This was a wonderful opportunity for our students to spend time working with such an illustrious list of authors. Moreover, it was thrilling to be able to welcome the people of Coventry into the university to hear these writers read from their work and to be able to ask them questions.
Geoff Willcocks, Director of Arts, Culture and Heritage at Coventry University
The winning author will be announced on 3 November as the climax of an awards ceremony held in partnership with the BBC at Broadcasting House’s Radio Theatre. It will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, BBC iPlayer and the BBC News Channel from 7.15pm.
As part of the Coventry UK City of Culture 2021 celebrations, libraries across the UK are also invited to sign up to host and stream the event to their users via The Reading Agency.
