Recent literary honors yield cash prizes
In the UK, the Women’s Prize is given annually for the best work of fiction written in English by a woman of any nationality. This year’s Women’s Prize, worth $39,000, went to Irish born Maggie O’Farrell (pictured befow) for her book Hamnet. Hamnet is about the life and death of William Shakespeare’s son Hamnet. And yes, Hamlet and Hamnet have something in common. The book is getting rave reviews, and I would appreciate a few comments by anyone who has read it.
Another prizewinner ($10,000) is Walter Mosley. He is the first Black man to win the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Mosley may not be known to readers of this blog, but he has written over 60 books, many of them part of a detective Easy Rawlins mystery series. The book that won the award is entitled Trouble is What I Do. Below is a paraphrased review of the book taken from another source.
Even though this novel is very short, it packs in a good story about “Catfish” Worry, an old Mississippi blues man, who wants to unveil the truth before he dies. Catfish hires Leonid McGill P.I. to find a girl who is the daughter of a white racist billionaire AND to tell her that her father is Catfish’s son. Wow!! It’s a dangerous mission, actually, and the story is told with fluid and vivid prose.
A young man from Ireland won the Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing. At sixteen years of age, Dara McAnulty is the youngest person to ever win this award. The book will not be published in the United States until 2021, which is too bad because it really is that good!! McAnulty is thrilled with this honor because he too often has felt that, as an autistic child, his voice is not heard.
The following is from The Observer—Science and nature books
Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty
review by Alex Preston – miraculous memoir
Sun 7 Jun 2020 04.00 EDT
There are echoes of the great WH Hudson in an autistic teenager’s intimate reflections on the complex pleasures of immersion in nature.
Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell: Beautifully written, with clear and fluid prose, this book drew me in immediately to the story of Shakespeare’s family, particularly that of his son, Hamnet (an interchangeable name with Hamlet), and of his wife, Agnes (or Anne). Too many historical novelists provide a heavy dose of research without insight or creativity. That’s not the case with O’Farrell, a superb writer, who is able to descriptively transport the reader to Shakespeare’s lively home with its aroma of herbs and cooking, to the bustling town of Stratford-upon-Avon, and briefly to the dirty and chaotic city of London. This story does not focus on Shakespeare as a playwright but as a son, husband, and father. It is an intimate story, about the heartbreak of losing a child to the plague, the rebuilding of life as a parent afterward, and how a family comes together in all of its different dimensions. I would heartedly recommend this book!