The Glittering Prizes

For anyone with literary aspirations, the Prime Minister's Literary Awards are a shining beacon, but a word from the winners might give us pause.

One said the money would help his family “survive a bit more.”

Another described his winnings as “somewhat of a financial relief.”

A third said the prize would allow her to write “in relative comfort for a year,” and that she looked forward to buying a new kettle.

Since the PM's are generous as prizes go, the apparently parlous state of these winners speaks more to the condition of writing and publishing in this country than to the meagreness of the prize. What this says to me is that if you want to write, you might win a prize but you've got Buckley's of making a living.