Another day, another award for Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies, the sequel to Wolf Hall and the second of a trilogy about Henry VIII’s wily Master Secretary, Thomas Cromwell. She took out the Novel Award in the 2012 Costa Novel of the Year Award which was announced this week..
But perhaps the more interesting element of the annual Costa Awards is the short story section in which we, the reader, get to have our say. After a public call for submissions early in 2012 the finalists were whittled down to six. Their stories were posted on the Costa site (without the author’s name) where they can be listened to, downloaded to read, and then open to public vote.
As you would expect, there is a wide variety of subjects. I dallied a little with the quirky Don’t Try This At Home but in the end plumped for Dislocation. If you fancy joining in the fun, all details, including the six short stories, can be found on the Costa website http://www.costabookawards.com/short-stories/shortlist
The winner will be announced on January 29 as will the overall winner of the Costa 2012 Book of the Year. Along with Mantel, other category winners in with a chance of the main prize are The Overhaul by Kathleen Jamie (Poetry), the deliciously named Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner (Children’s Book), Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes by Mary and Bryan Talbot (Biography) and The Innocents by Francesca Segal (First Novel).
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