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Competition
In 2022, we revived Jan Pieńkowski’s original statuette in his honour. Now, she needs a name. So we’re inviting you to become part of Booker Prize history - and win prizes worth over £700
The winner will receive a Folio Society edition of Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and a Montegrappa Zero fountain pen with a 14k solid gold nib.
She stands tall and elegant, wearing a pleated sleeveless gown. Her head is turned, her hair set in a tight bob. Her arms stretch above her, holding a large bowl. She doesn’t have a name, but you might still recognise her as the original Booker Prize trophy.
Unveiled at the first prize ceremony in 1969, the statuette was awarded to P.H. Newby for his novel Something to Answer For. It had been designed by the artist Jan Pieńkowski, who was then at the start of a career that would see him go on to create and illustrate the award-winning Meg and Mog children’s books. In 2022, following Pieńkowski’s death in February of that year, the original Booker design was revived in his honour.
Newby’s original trophy was scanned and 3D-printed by Adam Lowe’s Madrid-based Factum Foundation, a not-for-profit that uses cutting-edge technology to create facsimiles of important and imperilled cultural artefacts. The new trophy is 38cm high, cast in pewter and painted gold. In October, the trophy was awarded to Shehan Karunatilaka, winner of the Booker Prize 2022 for his novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, and will be presented to all future winners of the Booker Prize and International Booker Prize.
Now, all she needs is a name, and we’re calling on you to help. Perhaps you think she should be named after one of the remarkable authors who have won or been nominated for the Booker Prize or International Booker Prize (you’ll find hundreds of them in our Library).
Or perhaps you think she resembles a real-life figure: after all, the world’s most famous film awards are said to have become known as the Oscars when the Executive Director of the Motion Picture Academy remarked that the golden statuette reminded her of her ‘Uncle Oscar’. Or maybe there’s something about the trophy’s design that is particularly striking to you, and you believe deserves a dedication. Our judges can’t wait to hear your suggestions.
To enter, we invited you to fill in a form on this page, detailing the name you would like to give the trophy, and why you think it is fitting. Entries were open until Friday 27 January 2023. Entries will be judged by publisher and critic Margaret Busby; Booker Prize 2022 winner Shehan Karunatilaka; Gabriel Schenk, grandson of P.H. Newby; David Walser, partner of Jan Pienkowski; and the Director of the Booker Prize Foundation, Gaby Wood.
The judges will select their favourite six names from the entries received, and these names will be put to a public vote on the Booker Prizes website on Monday February 13. Public voting will close on Monday February 20. The winning trophy name and competition winner will be announced on February 27, 2023.
The winner of the competition will be the person who suggested the name that wins the public vote. They will receive a Montegrappa Zero fountain pen with a 14k solid gold, gold-plated nib (retailing at £640) and a Folio Society edition of Wolf Hall by the late Hilary Mantel (retailing at £85). If more than one person suggests the name that wins the public vote, we will select the winner at random from those entrants.
This competition is open internationally.
The rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell is brilliantly portrayed in Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize-winning Wolf Hall. So eminent a novel requires the finest treatment reminiscent of the pomp and riches of the era, and this startling Folio Society edition will be treasured for a lifetime.
Award-winning artistic duo Igor & Marina have created 11 full-page pencil drawings of exceptionally fine detail, as well as a remarkable colour frontispiece. The artists also painted a captivating portrait of Cromwell, hidden gracefully in the ornate binding design, while a ribbon marker, family trees and sumptuous gold page-edges complete this spectacular collector’s edition.
This product currently retails at £85. Find out more at www.foliosociety.com/wolfhall
Inspired by Italian writing culture, the Montegrappa Zero fountain pen is the next chapter in the evolution of modern writing style. Fitted with a converter/cartridge-fed 14k solid gold, gold-plated nib, it combines sartorial presence, precision engineering and uncompromising strength.
This product currently retails at £640. Find out more at www.montegrappa.co.uk
This is a competition, with only one entry allowed per person, and we reserve the right to disqualify any entries where we suspect one person has used a number of different email addresses. Use or attempted use of any automated or other non-manual entry methods is prohibited. While it is governed by our general rules for competitions, available here, the following specifics also apply (and take precedence should there be any contradiction or ambiguity):
The competition process (call for entries, explanation of how entries will be selected for consideration of the judges, identity of the judges, their task to select at their absolute discretion six entries to be put forward for public vote, and the timetable for the process) are set out in the competition details above.
The winner will receive a Montegrappa Zero pen and a Folio Society edition of Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize winning novel, Wolf Hall, but we do reserve the right at our sole discretion to make changes/substitutions to what the prize comprises if circumstances so require.
The competition is open to those resident in and outside the UK, subject to the proviso that an entry is not eligible if it is from a resident in a country or jurisdiction where this competition may breach any local law or regulation.
The winner will be notified by email no later than 72 hours after the public vote closes on February 20 2023, but any changes will be posted on this page on our website (www.thebookerprizes.com/trophycompetition). The winner must promptly provide a fully operative postal address for delivery of their prize.
If we have not received a fully operative postal address from the winner within 48 hours of us notifying the winner, we will have no obligation to deliver the prize. It will then be at our sole discretion to decide whether to give the prize to an alternative winner based on the outcome of the public vote or simply not to award the prize
We are planning to publicise the name of the winner, their location (in general terms, not specific address) on our website and social media channels, with a photo of the winner with their prize, shortly after the public ballot has closed and by entering the competition an entrant agrees to this publicity should they win, and also to the suppliers of the prize using the photograph (or separate photographs for each component of the prize – eg pen and book separately) for publicity purposes.
We can only undertake to do what is reasonable in all the circumstances to deliver a prize to a location outside the UK.
Bearing in mind, among other things, the value of the prize itself in relation to cost of delivery, we reserve the right (and this is determined at our sole discretion) to ask the winner to provide an alternative address for delivery to a person/location where the cost is proportionate.
The winner is responsible for any taxes or duties they may have to pay in order to take receipt of their prize.
We are not responsible for any damage to the prize in the course of delivery; while we will consider a request for a replacement (if available) if the prize arrives in a seriously damaged state, this is solely in our discretion depending on the particular circumstances.
These terms and conditions are be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of England & Wales, and the courts of England & Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to determining any question or issue in relation to them.