British Fantasy Award
| British Fantasy Award | |
|---|---|
![]() Logo of the British Fantasy Society | |
| Awarded for | Best fantasy works of the previous year |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | British Fantasy Society |
| First award | 1972 |
| Website | britishfantasysociety |
The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS).
History
The awards were first presented in 1972 as the August Derleth Award; the only category was best novel. In later years, the number of award categories increased. In 1976, the BFS renamed the awards collectively to the British Fantasy Awards.[1]
Categories
Current categories
| Category | Description and notes[2] |
|---|---|
| Fantasy Novel Robert Holdstock Award |
Fiction over 40,000 words |
| Horror Novel August Derleth Award |
Fiction over 40,000 words |
| Novella | Fiction between 15,000 and 40,000 words |
| Short Fiction | Fiction under 15,000 words |
| Anthology | Collection of works by a single author |
| Collection | Collection of works by various authors |
| Magazine/Periodical | Non-fiction and fiction, print and online magazine or periodical |
| Audio | Spoken word audio work (e.g. audiobook, radio drama, podcast) performed by one or more participants |
| Independent Press | An independent press active during the previous year |
| Artist | An artist working in any media format within the genre |
| Nonfiction | Items eligible for this Award include non-fiction books, chapbooks, magazine or online columns or single magazine or online articles. |
| Special Award Karl Edward Wagner Award |
May be presented to individuals or organizations. May be presented for work completed in the previous year, or throughout their lifetime. |
| Newcomer Sydney Bounds Award |
New fiction writer |
Previous categories
| Category | Description and notes |
|---|---|
| Novel | Awarded 1972-2010. Beginning in 2012, this was split into Fantasy and Horror categories. |
| Comic/Graphic Novel | Awarded 1973–1980 as "Best Comic". Awarded 2009-2022 as "Best Comic / Graphic Novel". |
| Television/Film Production | Awarded intermittently from 1973-2022. |
Process
The membership of the BFS vote to determine the shortlists of the awards, the winners being decided by juries.[3]
Conventional Fiction Writing
1Was originally presented as a single award known as "Best Novel", the August Derleth Fantasy Award, until split in 2012.[4][5]
| Year | Best Fantasy Novel1
(the Robert Holdstock Award) |
Best Horror Novel1
(the August Derleth Award) |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | The Knight of the Swords, Michael Moorcock | |
| 1973 | The King of the Swords, Michael Moorcock | |
| 1974 | Hrolf Kraki's Saga, Poul Anderson | |
| 1975 | The Sword and the Stallion, Michael Moorcock | |
| 1976 | The Hollow Lands, Michael Moorcock | |
| 1977 | The Dragon and the George, Gordon Dickson | |
| 1978 | A Spell for Chameleon, Piers Anthony | |
| 1979 | The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson | |
| 1980 | Death's Master, Tanith Lee | |
| 1981 | To Wake The Dead, Ramsey Campbell | |
| 1982 | Cujo, Stephen King | |
| 1983 | Sword of the Lictor, Gene Wolfe | |
| 1984 | Floating Dragon, Peter Straub | |
| 1985 | Incarnate, Ramsey Campbell | |
| 1986 | The Ceremonies, T. E. D. Klein | |
| 1987 | It, Stephen King | |
| 1988 | The Hungry Moon, Ramsey Campbell | |
| 1989 | The Influence, Ramsey Campbell | |
| 1990 | Carrion Comfort, Dan Simmons | |
| 1991 | Midnight Sun, Ramsey Campbell | |
| 1992 | Outside the Dog Museum, Jonathan Carroll | |
| 1993 | Dark Sister, Graham Joyce | |
| 1994 | The Long Lost, Ramsey Campbell | |
| 1995 | Only Forward, Michael Marshall Smith | |
| 1996 | Requiem, Graham Joyce | |
| 1997 | The Tooth Fairy, Graham Joyce | |
| 1998 | Tower of the King's Daughter, Chaz Brenchley | |
| 1999 | Bag of Bones, Stephen King | |
| 2000 | Indigo, Graham Joyce | |
| 2001 | Perdido Street Station, China Miéville | |
| 2002 | The Night of the Triffids, Simon Clark | |
| 2003 | The Scar, China Miéville | |
| 2004 | Full Dark House, Christopher Fowler | |
| 2005 | The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower, Stephen King | |
| 2006 | Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman | |
| 2007 | Dusk, Tim Lebbon | |
| 2008 | The Grin of the Dark, Ramsey Campbell | |
| 2009 | Memoirs of a Master Forger, William Heaney | |
| 2010 | One, Conrad Williams | |
| 2011 | N/A | |
| 2012 | Among Others, Jo Walton | The Ritual, Adam Nevill |
| 2013 | Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Graham Joyce | Last Days, Adam Nevill |
| 2014 | A Stranger in Olondria, Sofia Samatar | The Shining Girls, Lauren Beukes |
| 2015 | Cuckoo Song, Frances Hardinge | No One Gets Out Alive, Adam Nevill |
| 2016 | Uprooted, Naomi Novik | Rawblood, Catriona Ward |
| 2017 | The Tiger and the Wolf, Adrian Tchaikovsky | Disappearance at Devil's Rock, Paul G. Tremblay |
| 2018 | The Ninth Rain, Jen Williams | The Changeling, Victor LaValle |
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Anthology, Collection, Magazine, and Press
1Provided as "Small Press" until 2015, when that was ended and replace with "Independent"[5]
| Year | Location | Best Collection | Best Anthology | Magazine/Periodical | Small/Independent Press1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Anduril | ||||
| 1978 | Fantasy Tales 1 | ||||
| 1979 | Fantasy Tales 2 | ||||
| 1980 | Fantasy Tales 3 | ||||
| 1981 | Airgedlamh | ||||
| 1982 | Fantasy Tales | ||||
| 1983 | Fantasy Tales | ||||
| 1984 | Ghosts & Scholars | ||||
| 1985 | Whispers | ||||
| 1986 | Fantasy Tales | ||||
| 1987 | Fantasy Tales | ||||
| 1988 | Dagon | ||||
| 1989 | Dagon | ||||
| 1990 | Dagon | ||||
| 1991 | Best New Horror, Stephen Jones and Ramsey Campbell | Dagon | |||
| 1992 | Darklands, Nicholas Royle | Peeping Tom | |||
| 1993 | Darklands 2, Nicholas Royle | Peeping Tom | |||
| 1994 | Dark Voices 5, ed. David Sutton and Stephen Jones | Dementia 13 | |||
| 1995 | The Earthwire, Joel Lane | Necrofile | |||
| 1996 | Last Rites and Resurrections: Stories from The Third Alternative, ed. Andy Cox | The Third Alternative | |||
| 1997 | The Nightmare Factory, Thomas Ligotti | H. P. Lovecraft: a Life | |||
| 1998 | Dark Terrors 3: the Gollancz Book of Horror, Stephen Jones and David Sutton | Interzone | |||
| 1999 | Ghosts and Grisly Things, Ramsey Campbell | Dark Terrors 4: the Gollancz Book of Horror, ed. Stephen Jones and David Sutton | The Third Alternative | ||
| 2000 | Lonesome Roads, Peter Crowther | The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 10, ed. Stephen Jones | Razorblade Press | ||
| 2001 | Where the Bodies Are Buried, Kim Newman | Hideous Progeny: a Frankenstein Anthology, ed. Brian Willis | Peter Crowther | ||
| 2002 | Aftershocks, Paul Finch | The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 12, ed. Stephen Jones | Peter Crowther | ||
| 2003 | Ramsey Campbell, Probably: On Horror and Sundry Fantasies, Ramsey Campbell | Keep Out the Night, ed. Stephen Jones | Peter Crowther | ||
| 2004 | Walsall | Told by the Dead, Ramsey Campbell | The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 14, ed. Stephen Jones | Peter Crowther | |
| 2005 | Walsall | Out of His Mind, Stephen Gallagher | The Alsiso Project, ed. Andrew Hook | Elastic Press | |
| 2006 | Nottingham | 20th Century Ghosts, Joe Hill | The Elastic Book of Numbers, ed. Allen Ashley | Peter Crowther | |
| 2007 | Nottingham | Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman | Extended Play: The Elastic Book of Music, ed. Gary Couzens | Peter Crowther | |
| 2008 | Nottingham | Old Devil Moon, Christopher Fowler | The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 18, ed. Stephen Jones | Peter Crowther | |
| 2009 | Nottingham | Bull Running for Girls, Allyson Bird | The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 19, ed. Stephen Jones | Postscripts, ed. Peter Crowther and Nick Gevers | Elastic Press |
| 2010 | Nottingham | Love Songs for the Shy And Cynical, Robert Shearman | The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror 20, ed. Stephen Jones | Murky Depths, ed. Terry Martin | Telos Publishing |
| 2011 | Brighton | Full Dark, No Stars, Stephen King | Back from the Dead: The Legacy of the Pan Book of Horror Stories, ed. Johnny Mains | Black Static, ed. Andy Cox | Telos Publishing |
| 2012 | Brighton | Everyone's Just So So Special, Robert Shearman | The Weird, ed. Jeff VanderMeer and Ann VanderMeer | Black Static, ed. Andy Cox | Chômu Press |
| 2013 | Brighton | Remember Why You Fear Me, Robert Shearman | Magic: an Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane, ed. Jonathan Oliver | Interzone, ed. Andy Cox | ChiZine Publications |
| 2014 | York | Monsters in the Heart, Stephen Volk | End of the Road, ed. Jonathan Oliver | Clarkesworld, ed. Neil Clarke, Sean Wallace and Kate Baker | The Alchemy Press |
| 2015 | Nottingham | Nick Nightmare Investigates, Adrian Cole | Lightspeed: Women Destroy Science Fiction Special Issue, ed. Christie Yant | Holdfast Magazine, ed. Laurel Sills and Lucy Smee | Fox Spirit Books |
| 2016 | Scarborough | Ghost Summer: Stories, Tananarive Due | The Doll Collection, ed. Ellen Datlow | Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ed. Scott H. Andrews | Angry Robot |
| 2017 | Peterborough | Some Will Not Sleep, Adam Nevill | People of Colour Destroy Science Fiction, ed. Nalo Hopkinson & Kristine Ong | Tor.com | Grimbold Books |
| 2018 | Chester |
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| 2019 | Glasgow |
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| 2020 | Online |
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| 2021 | Birmingham |
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| 2022 | Heathrow |
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| 2023 | Birmingham |
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| 2024 | Chester |
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| 2025 | Brighton |
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Multimedia
1Was initially conferred 1973–1980 as "Best Comic"; it was revived in 2009 as "Best Comic / Graphic Novel".[5] The category was removed at the 2022 AGM[7]
2Awarded only to films from 1973 to 1990, this honor was renewed 2009–2011, (though split into two separate categories), and again starting in 2014 as "Best Film / Television Episode", and then "Best Film / Television Production" from 2016 onward. In the two years 2012–2013, the BFS decided to present for extraordinary contributions to screenplay literature to Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris (2012) and co-writers Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon for Cabin in the Woods (2013).[5] The category was again removed following the 2022 AGM.
| Location | Best Comic / Graphic Novel1 | Best Artist | Best Television / Film Production2 | Best Audio (Podcasts, Audiobooks, etc.) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Conan | Tales from the Crypt | |||
| 1974 | Conan | Legend of Hell House | |||
| 1975 | Savage Sword of Conan | The Exorcist | |||
| 1976 | Savage Sword of Conan | Monty Python and the Holy Grail | |||
| 1977 | Howard the Duck #3 | Michael Kaluta | The Omen | ||
| 1978 | Marvel Premiere 38: Weirdworld | Steve Fabian | Carrie | ||
| 1979 | Savage Sword of Conan #30: The Scarlet Citadel, Roy Thomas and Frank Brunner | Boris Vallejo | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | ||
| 1980 | Heavy Metal | Steve Fabian | Alien | ||
| 1981 | Dave Carson | The Empire Strikes Back | |||
| 1982 | Dave Carson | Raiders of the Lost Ark | |||
| 1983 | Dave Carson | Blade Runner | |||
| 1984 | Rowena Morrill | Videodrome | |||
| 1985 | Steve Fabian | Ghostbusters | |||
| 1986 | JK Potter | A Nightmare on Elm Street | |||
| 1987 | JK Potter | Aliens | |||
| 1988 | JK Potter | Hellraiser | |||
| 1989 | Dave Carson | Beetlejuice | |||
| 1990 | Dave Carson | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | |||
| 1991 | Les Edwards | ||||
| 1992 | Jim Pitts | ||||
| 1993 | Jim Pitts | ||||
| 1994 | Les Edwards | ||||
| 1995 | Martin McKenna | ||||
| 1996 | Josh Kirby | ||||
| 1997 | Jim Burns | ||||
| 1998 | Jim Burns | ||||
| 1999 | Bob Covington | ||||
| 2000 | Les Edwards | ||||
| 2001 | Jim Burns | ||||
| 2002 | Jim Burns | ||||
| 2003 | Les Edwards | ||||
| 2004 | Walsall | Les Edwards | |||
| 2005 | Walsall | Les Edwards | |||
| 2006 | Nottingham | Les Edwards | |||
| 2007 | Nottingham | Vincent Chong | |||
| 2008 | Nottingham | Vincent Chong | |||
| 2009 | Nottingham | Locke and Key, Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez | Vincent Chong | Film: The Dark Knight
Television: Doctor Who |
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| 2010 | Nottingham | Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert | Vincent Chong | Film: Let The Right One In
Television: Doctor Who |
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| 2011 | Brighton | At the Mountains of Madness: a Graphic Novel, Ian Culbard | Vincent Chong | Film: Inception
Television: Sherlock |
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| 2012 | Brighton | Locke and Key, Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez | Daniele Serra | Screenplay: Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen | |
| 2013 | Brighton | Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples | Sean Phillips | Screenplay: The Cabin in the Woods, Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard | |
| 2014 | York | Demeter, Becky Cloonan | Joey Hi-Fi | "The Rains of Castamere", David Benioff and D.B. Weiss | |
| 2015 | Nottingham | Through the Woods, Emily Carroll | Karla Ortiz | Guardians of the Galaxy | |
| 2016 | Scarborough | Bitch Planet, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Valentine De Landro, Robert Wilson IV and Cris Peter | Julie Dillon | Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Peter Harness | |
| 2017 | Peterborough | Monstress, Vol 1: Awakening, Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda | Daniele Serra | Arrival | |
| 2018 | Chester | Monstress, Vol 2: The Blood, Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda | Jeffrey Alan Love | Get Out | Anansi Boys |
| 2019 | Glasgow |
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| 2020 | Online |
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| 2021 | Birmingham |
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| 2022 | Heathrow |
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| 2023 | Birmingham |
Category discontinued |
*Vince Haig
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Category discontinued |
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| 2024 | Chester |
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| 2025 | Brighton |
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Nominees and winners (other awards)
| Year | Location | Best Non-Fiction | Best Newcomer
(Sydney J. Bounds Award) |
Special Award
(Karl Edward Wagner Award) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | ||||
| 1973 | Robert E. Howard | |||
| 1974 | ||||
| 1975 | ||||
| 1976 | ||||
| 1977 | ||||
| 1978 | ||||
| 1979 | ||||
| 1980 | ||||
| 1981 | Stephen King | |||
| 1982 | ||||
| 1983 | Karl Edward Wagner | |||
| 1984 | ||||
| 1985 | Manly Wade Wellman | |||
| 1986 | Les Flood | |||
| 1987 | Charles L Grant | |||
| 1988 | ||||
| 1989 | Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes | |||
| 1990 | Nancy A. Collins | Peter Coleborn | ||
| 1991 | Dorothy Lumley | |||
| 1992 | Melanie Tem | Andrew I. Porter | ||
| 1993 | Conrad Williams | Michael Moorcock | ||
| 1994 | Poppy Z. Brite | Dave Sutton | ||
| 1995 | Maggie Furey | John Jarrold | ||
| 1996 | Mike O’Driscoll and Steve Lockley | |||
| 1997 | Jo Fletcher | |||
| 1998 | D. F. Lewis | |||
| 1999 | Diana Wynne Jones | |||
| 2000 | Anne McCaffrey | |||
| 2001 | Peter Haining | |||
| 2002 | ||||
| 2003 | Alan Garner | |||
| 2004 | Walsall | Peter Jackson | ||
| 2005 | Walsall | Nigel Kneale | ||
| 2006 | Nottingham | Stephen Jones | ||
| 2007 | Nottingham[8][9] | Cinema Macabre, Mark Morris (PS Publishing) | Joe Hill | Ellen Datlow |
| 2008 | Nottingham | Whispers of Wickedness Reviews (website), ed. Peter Tennant | Scott Lynch | Ray Harryhausen |
| 2009 | Nottingham | Basil Copper: A Life in Books, Basil Copper, ed. Stephen Jones | Joseph D'Lacey | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 2010 | Nottingham | Ansible, David Langford | Kari Sperring | Robert Holdstock |
| 2011 | Brighton | Altered Visions: The Art of Vincent Chong | Robert Jackson Bennet | Terry Pratchett |
| 2012 | Brighton | Supergods: Our World in the Age of the Super Hero, Grant Morrison, ed. Jonathan Cape | Kameron Hurley | Peter Crowther and Nicky Crowther |
| 2013 | Brighton | Pornokitsch, Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin | Helen Marshall | Iain M. Banks |
| 2014 | York | Speculative Fiction 2012, ed. Justin Landon and Jared Shurin | Ann Leckie | Farah Mendlesohn |
| 2015 | Nottingham | Letters to Arkham: The Letters of Ramsey Campbell and August Derleth, 1961-1971, ed. S. T. Joshi | Sarah Lotz | Juliet E. McKenna |
| 2016 | Scarborough | Letters to Tiptree, ed. Alexandra Pierce and Alisa Krasnostein | Zen Cho | The FantasyCon Redcloaks, Past and Present |
| 2017 | Peterborough | The Geek Feminist Revolution, Kameron Hurley | Erica L. Satifka | Jan Edwards |
| 2018 | Chester |
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N.K. Jemisin |
| 2019 | Glasgow |
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Ian Whates |
| 2020 | Online[10] |
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Craig Lockley |
| 2021 | Birmingham[11][12] |
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*Alasdair Stuart |
| 2022[13][14] | Heathrow |
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| 2023[15][16] |
*An Earnest Blackness, Eugen Bacon*
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| 2024 | Chester[17] |
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| 2025 | Brighton |
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Award controversy of 2011
In 2011, British writer Sam Stone won the British Fantasy Award but returned it three days later after editor and anthologist Stephen Jones posted a blog entry pointing out that three of the winning entries (and many of the shortlisted works) were published by Telos Publishing, a company owned by David Howe. At the time, Howe was also chair of the British Fantasy Society, British Fantasy Award coordinator, and partner of Stone.[18][19][20]
References
- ^ Edwards, Jan; Sutton, David. "History of the British Fantasy Awards". British Fantasy Society. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "The BFS Constitution". British Fantasy Society. Retrieved 11 February 2026.
- ^ "British Fantasy Awards FAQ". British Fantasy Society. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "British Fantasy Award Nominee | Book awards | LibraryThing". librarything.com. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d "The British Fantasy Awards Winners". britishfantasysociety.org. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ "British Fantasy Awards 2025". 1 November 2025. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
- ^ "ShonaK comment on removed categories".
- ^ Edwards, Jan. "The British Fantasy Awards: a Short History". (with additions from) David Sutton. Archived from the original on 10 November 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- ^ Pechanec, Jan (22 August 2007). "CENY: nominace na British Fantasy Awards 2007" (in Czech). Sarden. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- ^ "British Fantasy Awards 2020 – Shortlists". Archived from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ "British Fantasy Awards 2021: Shortlists announced". Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ "British Fantasy Awards 2021: winners announced". Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ "British Fantasy Awards Shortlists". Archived from the original on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ^ "British Fantasy Awards 2022: Winners announced".
- ^ "British Fantasy Awards Shortlists".
- ^ "British Fantasy Award Winners 2023". Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ "The British Fantasy Award Winners for 2024!".
- ^ Barnett, David (6 October 2011). "British Fantasy Award winner returns prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
- ^ Jones, Stephen (1 November 2011). "Putting The "Con" Into FantasyCon". Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ Paul, David (9 October 2011). "A literary spat turns ugly as the winner of award is... organiser's live-in lover". Daily Express. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
