Hilary Mantel won the Costa Book of the Year Prize Tuesday afternoon for BRING UP THE BODIES, making her the first author to win the Booker and Costa for the same book. Judging chair Jenni Murray said the unanimous decision took “less than an hour”, telling the Guardian: “One book simply stood head and shoulders, more than head and shoulders … on stilts, above the rest. We had a really good discussion, like being at a high-powered book club, and I said, ‘OK, let’s have a vote on Bring up the Bodies’ and every hand went up.”
Accepting the prize, Mantel addressed recent pieces that she should apologize for winning so many awards: “I’m not going to apologize, I’m going to say thank you, particularly to the judges for not letting anyone tell them how to do their job…and I will make it my business to write more books that will be worth prizes.”
Scott Parris will join Oxford University Press USA as executive editor, economics on February 25. Previously he held the same position at Cambridge University Press.
Agent Jonathan Conway is leaving Mulcahy Conway Associates to join The Agency Group. Ivan Mulcahy says they “are all sad to lose our dear friend and colleague Jonathan but he has our very best wishes and we will continue to work together on ongoing projects.” Meanwhile, “our agency-formerly-known-as-Mulcahy-Conway-Associates will announce more shortly.”
Dorian Karchmar is among seven agents from across William Morris Endeavor who were named partners.
Pan Macmillan’s director of digital and communications Sara Lloyd is serving as chair of the London Book Fair’s Digital Minds Conference.
Editor-in-chief at the Globe & Mail John Stackhouse issued a memo Tuesday afternoon clarifying the changes to the newspaper’s books section after an earlier report from NowToronto — which Stackhouse called “hogwash” said the section was being “gutted”. Stackhouse confirmed that books editor Martin Levin would be reassigned to cover obituaries, while assistant editor HJ Kirchoff has been moved to another, as yet reported section, “the reality is that we are as committed as ever to both books coverage and book reviews. While space and style continue to change, the importance of books to the Globe does not.” The Globe is about to post an open call for a new books editor.