Bibliofemme News
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15/06/2005
Coe takes the Johnson prize
Jonathan Coe's biography of author BS Johnson, Like a Fiery Elephant, has won the BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction.
Acclaimed as one of the 20th century's most ground-breaking authors, BS Johnson was a British avant-garde writer in the 1960s.
He had problems with depression and committed suicide in 1973, at the age of 40.
Coe's long-awaited biography was based on Johnson's own collection of writings, drafts and letters as well as a series of interviews with those closest to the author when he was alive.
The BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize is now in its seventh year and it celebrates originality and diversity in contemporary non-fiction.
Cole's book was chosen from a shortlist of six titles. He wins £30,000 and each of the other five shortlisted authors receives £1,000.
"Choosing a winner was a very difficult task for the judges, because each one of the six shortlisted books is such a terrific read," said Sue MacGregor, chair of the judging panel.
Orhan Pamuk on £30,000 shortlist
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