Press Release

John Murray title shortlisted for Sunday Times Award18/03/2009

Fresh from winning the John Llewellyn Rhys prize, some more good prize news for John Murray's non-fiction star Henry Hitchings.

The Secret life of Words has been shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer Award, announced in the paper yesterday. The other 3 shortlisted writers are debut novelists Ross Raisin and Edward Hogan, and last year's winner, Adam Foulds, with a narrative poem.

The judges have called The Secret life of Words "an impressively researched and sparkingly written history of the English language". It is the only non-fiction title on the list.

The winner will be announced at a lunchtime party in Christchurch at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival on Sunday the 5th of April. The lucky writer will walk away with £5,000.