A Great Night for Women in Publishing

Last night, 15th May 2013, publishing professionals came together to celebrate the achievements of women in the industry with the announcements of the winners of the Kim Scott Walwyn Prize and The Orwell Prize.

Miriam Robinson, Head of Marketing at Foyles, was named winner of the prestigious Kim Scott Walwyn Prize last night at a ceremony held at the Freeword Centre in Farringdon. The Kim Scott Walwyn Prize is an award which recognises the achievements and potential of women who have worked in the book trade for up to seven years. The award was founded in 2003 in honour of Kim Scott Walwyn, a Publishing Director at Oxford University Press with an outstanding reputation, who died at the age of 45 in 2002. The award is managed by Booktrust, and the prize – £1000 and a two day training course – is sponsored by the Society of Young Publishers and the Publishers Training Centre.

Robinson fought off fierce competition to win last night, with an outstanding short-list selected for the 2013 Prize. In addition to Miriam, the 2013 shortlist included: Laura Austin, co-founder of BookMachine and ebook marketing and account manager at YUDU Media; Juliet Mushens -literary agent at The Agency Group; and Laura Palmer, co-founder and editorial director at Head of Zeus.

Over at The Orwell Prize homage was paid to one of the great female journalists of our time – On the Front Line: The Collected Journalism of Marie Colvin won The Orwell Special Award. Colvin was a dedicated and outstanding American journalist who lost her life on February 22nd 2012 while reporting in Syria. Jane Seaton, Director of The Orwell Prize, said, ‘Marie Colvin’s life – like many journalists – was abruptly and terribly closed as she was doing her job. The threats journalists face all over the world have gone up – yet we need their intelligence more than ever. But her work has been beautifully shaped in this book. A life given to holding the powerful to account.’

The other winners on the night were  Andrew Norfolk and Tom Bergin, who shared the Orwell Prize for Journalism for their work for The Times and Reuters respectively, and A. T. Williams who won the Orwell Book Prize for A Very British Killing: The Death of Baha Mousa, published by Jonathan Cape.

You can read more about the Kim Scott Walwyn Prize over on Booktrust’s website and read The Orwell Prize press release on their website