AUTHORS and publishers are needed to enter the Lake District's leading literary awards.
The Lakeland Book of the Year event takes place every summer and is now in its 26th year.
The competition is open to established authors as well as first-time writers and as long as the books are about Cumbria, and published during 2009 they are e
ligible to enter.
There will be six categories to enter - Business and Industry, Arts and Literature, Guides, Walks and Places, Landscape and Tradition, Illustration and Presentation and Stories and Reporting
The overall prize of Lakeland Book of the Year is chosen by the judges and this year's awards luncheon will be held at Armathwaite Hall, Bassenthwaite Lake, Keswick, on July 6.
The awards were founded by the famous Cumbrian author Hunter Davies (chairman of the official judging panel), co-founder Vicky Robinson and Cumbria Tourism.
Mr Davies has ghost-written a number of high-profile biographies of celebrities like Wayne Rooney, Paul Gascoigne and John Prescott among others, as well as acclaimed works about Wordsworth and Wainwright. The panel also includes ITV and BBC newscaster Fiona Armstrong, and Appleby-based writer Kathleen Jones.
Previous winners of the Lakeland Book of the Year have included Alfred Wainwright in 1985; Vivian Russell in 1990, Harry Griffin in 2000 and Booker Prize nominee Sarah Hall won a category in 2003. Melvyn Bragg was also highly commended in 1988 for his book, the Maid of Buttermere.
Last year's winner was Keswick-based "Ivver Sen: Lake District: The Life and Times of the Men and Women Who Work the Land."
Ivver Sen, which is Cumberland dialect for "Ever Since," is an evocative collection of personality-interviews with dyed-in-the-wool Lakeland characters by the former journalist and Cumbria Life Editor, Keith Richardson.
The book, published by Keith's publishing company River Greta Writer, contained evocative pastel drawings of the personalities and landscapes in the book which were captured by award-winning artist Keith Bowen. It also featured images from the acclaimed Lake District landscape photographer, Val Corbett.
The deadline for submissions to this year's competition is March 18 and you can get an entry form from Sheila Lindsay of Cumbria Tourism by emailing
slindsay@cumbriatourism.org or by calling on 01539 825052.
