On 21 May the four judges met in London with their sleeves rolled up, prepared for a robust discussion to select the six finalists to go forward to the final judging. With so many excellent entries, we expected some sharp disagreements.
As we gathered up our notes at the end, we all agreed how harmonious it had been, with the judges unanimous about the top six finalists. All are original in the way their story is presented, and all show the ability to ‘paint the picture’ which is the hallmark of true travel writing. The selection also fell evenly into published and unpublished writers: three of each.
The finalists (in alphabetical order)
- Grant Hackelton
- Louise Heal
- Angela Moore
- Gordon Rattray
- Joan Waller
- Christopher Walsh
Commended
The following people reached the final long list which went through to the final judging.
- Andrew Bostock
- Gemma Clery
- Anthony Ham
- Eithne Nightingale
- Alex Ninian
- Anja-Karina Pahl
- Alison Roberts
- Sriparna Saha
- Paul Scraton
- Stephen Spawls
- Ian Stoodley
- Natalie Wheatley
- Sarah Woods
Announcing the Winner: Awards Evening
Douglas Schatz, managing director of Stanfords, will choose the winner who will be announced at the Awards Evening in London on 10 July. At the same time Jon Lorie, of Travellers' Tales, will reveal his award to the best unpublished writer. Neither judge will know the authors’ names until after they have made their selection. The two winners’ names will appear on Bradt’s website on 11 July and will be printed in the Independent on Sunday on 15 July.
Pick up your copy of the top six entries
The six finalists will be published in a free booklet, available from branches of Stanfords Bookshop (in London, Bristol and Manchester) or by post from Bradt Travel Guides – please enclose an addressed A5 envelope, stamped as for a small letter of under 100g. There’s a form in the booklet with which you can vote for your favourites. Write to: Bradt Travel Guides (TW booklet), 23 High Street, Chalfont St Peter, Bucks SL9 9QE.
Prizes
The Independent on Sunday will publish the winning entry and offer a commission for a 1,200-word article based on the winner’s trip to Sri Lanka. The prize includes return flights for two and seven nights’ full board in a selection of luxury hotels. The holiday has been generously donated by Sri Lankan Airlines (www.srilankan.aero) and Jetwing Hotels and Travels (www.jetwing.com).
The prize for the unpublished writers category is a place on a creative-writing course in Granada, Spain, kindly provided by Travellers’ Tales, the UK's leading training agency for travel writing and photography (www.travellerstales.org).
Please note: This competition has now passed.
Author: Hilary Bradt
Date: 29 May 2007
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