Desmond Elliott Prize 2010
Literary Brunch with Shortlisted Authors
www.desmondelliottprize.com

In celebration of The Desmond Elliott Prize 2010, Fortnum & Mason will be hosting a Literary Brunch in The Burlington Room at 12noon on Wednesday 23 June. The Desmond Elliott Prize showcases the best in new fiction and this delicious brunch event is a unique opportunity to engage with the most talented first novelists in the UK today.

Guests will have the opportunity to hear this year’s three shortlisted authors in conversation with Liz Thomson, journalist, broadcaster and editor of BookBrunch. Following the discussion, guests can put their own questions to the authors before a book signing.

The three authors shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2010 are acclaimed poet Jacob Polley for Talk of The Town, teacher Maria Allen for Before the Earthquake and former bookseller Ali Shaw for The Girl with Glass Feet. Described by the judges as both “intriguing and hugely rewarding”; the shortlist spans a range of genres encompassing the coming-of-age tale, historical fiction and magical realism.

The Prize was inaugurated in honour of publisher and literary agent Desmond Elliott, one of the most charismatic and successful men in this field, who died in August 2003. He stipulated that his estate should be invested in a charitable trust that would fund a literary award “to enrich the careers of new writers”. Worth £10,000 to the winner, the Prize is intended to support new writers and to celebrate their fiction.

Tickets (including brunch) are priced at £45. To order a ticket, please call: 0845 602 5694 or email restaurants@fortnumandmason.co.uk