Lakeland Book of the Year

The Lakeland Book of the Year, also known as the Hunter Davies Lakeland Book of the Year[1] is an award given annually for a book "set in or featuring Cumbria in some way", and is named for the Lake District of north west England. It was founded by writer Hunter Davies in 1984 and is administered by Cumbria Tourism. Davies was one of the judges from 1984 to 2022.[2] In 2023, following Davies's retirement from the role, the judges were Fiona Armstrong, Eric Robson, Michael McGregor, director of Wordsworth Grasmere, and "guest judge" Rachel Laverack from Cumbria County Council.[3] The prizes are traditionally announced at a gala lunch in June, although in 2020 the proceedings took place online because of COVID-19.[4][5]

There are a number of awards for specific categories of books, and an overall winner is selected as the "Book of the Year". From the 2021 competition (for books published in 2020), the categories were:[4]

  • Fiction
  • Guides and Places
  • Illustration and Presentation
  • Landscape and Tradition
  • Literature and Poetry
  • People and Business

In 2023 a new prize for Children's Poem of the Year, sponsored by CGP Books was added, open to Cumbrian schoolchildren between key stages 2 and 5.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference cropper2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference mail2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b williamson, John (25 January 2023). "New-look Lakeland Book of the Year expands for 2023". Bay Trust Radio. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Lakeland Book of the Year". Cumbria Tourism. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  5. ^ Leckey, Susan (2015). "Lakeland Book of the Year Awards". The Europa Directory of Literary Awards and Prizes. Routledge. p. 158. ISBN 978-1-135-35632-3. Retrieved 21 May 2020.