Watch Out For The Cheetos Pulitzers and The Nabisco NBAs

Seems like everyone is trying to give their book awards a facelift. The latest example is the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, which will now take on commercial sponsorship.

‘We are taking it from the ivory towers to the marketplace,’ he said. ‘It will be difficult to get sponsorship and preserve the integrity which makes this prize so special. But that is our aim.’

The awards are regarded as the jewel among writers despite the small prize money of 3,000. Martin Amis, who won in 2000 for his memoir Experience said he was honoured. ‘I haven’t won a prize for 28 years, so my joy was boundless when I heard that I’d won the James Tait Black – the most venerable prize of all,’ he said at the time.

Update The 2005 James Tait Black Prize shortlist has been announced. In fiction, the finalists are:

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Psychoraag by Suhayl Saadi

GB84 by David Peace

Havoc in its Third Year by Ronan Bennett

The Afterglow by Anthony Cartwright.

Second link via the Literary Saloon.