The Literature Prize secures a sponsor

The UK's most high-minded literary prize has announced a sponsorship deal to support an annual £40,000 award. But who is stumping up the cash?

So the UK's shiniest new prize for literature – the … er … Literature Prize – has found a sponsor. Anyone who's ever cried themselves to sleep over the death of contemporary culture, the depredations of modern life and the triumph of the market over Art – otherwise known as the Booker prize – can rejoice. The future of a literary prize which is "endorsed by writers of international stature", judged by a panel "drawn annually from a body of writers, critics and academics immersed in the world of literature", and whose "sole criterion" is "excellence", is now assured.

The inaugural award will be handed down in March 2014, with the lucky winner taking home £40,000 – £10k less than the Booker, of course, but as the lady says, it's not about the money, now, is it …

Except … Perhaps I'm too much a child of Maggie Thatcher, or maybe I'm just not focused enough on "the very highest level of artistic achievement", but I'd kind of like to know which particular devil the Literature Prize has supped with. Is it global finance, environmental mongers of doom or – whisper it – Amazon? According to the press release we'll have to wait until February to find out, but that seems a little far off. After Peter Stothard's steady chairmanship of the 2012 Man Booker prize and Hilary Mantel's double win, maybe the work of the Literature Prize has been done already.

Awards and prizesRichard Lea
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