Lakeland Book of the Year - Hungry for Success

By Cumbria Tourism

Above: Grace Dent, winner of the 2021 Lakeland Book of the Year

Guardian and Masterchef food critic Grace Dent’s autobiography Hungry has been named the 2021 Lakeland Book of the Year.

Presented this week at the Roundthorn Country House Hotel, the book, detailing the food personality’s life and experiences, impressed the judges with it’s honest and entertaining account of growing up in Carlisle.

Posting on Twitter, Carlisle-born Grace, who also received the The Zefirellis Prize for People & Business, said that she was “thrilled” to receive the prize for Hungry, which includes details of her early years growing up in Carlisle as part of a moving personal memoir.

Chosen from over 70 entries covering almost every conceivable category from wild swimming to Cumbria’s incredibly diverse history, Hungry was celebrated alongside five other category winners at a charity lunch in support of the Stroke Association, with the attendees raising over £600 for the cause on the day, with additional donations still coming in.

The judges, author and columnist Hunter Davies OBE, renowned broadcaster and Cumbria Tourism President Eric Robson OBE and BBC newscaster, presenter and author Fiona Armstrong, entertained over 70 guests with their thoughts and insights on the 18-strong shortlist before announcing the six winners of 2021.

The awards, supported by James Croppers of Burneside, have continued uninterrupted for 37 years (with the 2020 event taking place virtually) and celebrate the breathtaking variety of top-quality writing inspired by Cumbria and the Lake District. Open to any book set in or featuring the county and published the previous year, previous winners have included Rory Stewart, James Rebanks and Alfred Wainwright.

THE 2021 WINNERS ARE:

The Zefirellis Prize for People & Business:

Hungry, Grace Dent

The Bill Rollinson Prize for Landscapes and Traditions:

Swimming Wild in the Lake District, Suzanna Cruickshank

The Striding Edge Prize for Guides and Places:

English Pastoral: An Inheritance, James Rebanks

The Latitude Press Prize for Illustration and Presentation:

Terry Abraham: Life On The Mountains, Terry Abraham

The Bookends Prize for Literature & Poetry:

Radical Wordsworth, Jonathan Bate

The Gilpin Hotel and Lake Prize for Fiction:

Dead Ringer, Nicola Martin

Above: Lakeland Book of the Year 2021 winners (L-R Nicola Martin, Fiona Armstrong, Terry Abraham, Eric Robson OBE, Helen Rebanks (accepting on behalf of James Rebanks), Michael McGregor (accepting on behalf of Jonathan Bate) and Hunter Davies OBE).

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