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News & Reviews
WORD: Biographer Hilary Spurling
wins 2005 Whitbread Book of the Year
Hilary Spurling won the
2005 Whitbread Book of the Year award for the second part of her
biography Matisse the Master,
beating odds-on favorite The
Accidental by Ali Smith
and three other finalists, Whitbread PLC announced.
Spurling took 15 years to write Matisse the Master, published by Hamish
Hamilton. Over that time she'd gained unrestricted access to the Matise
family’s correspondence and additional materials that had lulled in in
private archives. Her book was a surprising winner over The Accidental
by Ali Smith, which recently won the Whitbread Best Novel
Award.
Matisse the Master portrays the artist’s lifetime of desperation and
self-doubt, as well as Matisse’s attempts to counteract the violence
and disruption of the twentieth century in paintings that appeared
serene, radiant and stable, Whitbread judges noted.
"We all agreed when you get to the end you’re sorry it's finished, an
extraordinary achievement for a book of this length," said judge
chairman Michael Morpurgo.
Spurling was awarded a 25,000-pound check at this week’s awards
ceremony at The Brewery in Central London. The Whitbread, which has
become one of the world’s most prestigious awards, goes to authors who
were first published in the UK or Ireland.
Additional finalists this year included debut novelist Tash Aw for The Harmony Silk Factory, poet Christopher Logue for Cold Calls and children’s book The New Policeman by Kate Thompson.
Spurling previously authored The
Unknown Matisse: The Early Years, 1869-1908, a tie-in to the
Whitbread winner. She also penned four other biographies and is a
regular book reviewer for The Daily
Telegraph and New York Times.
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