Three University of Essex academics nominated for East Anglian literary prize

Three University of Essex academics are among the 12 authors longlisted for the 2019 New Angle Prize, which recognises literature associated with, or influenced by, the region of East Anglia.

Dr James Canton, one of the founding lecturers on our MA Wild Writing, is recognised for Ancient Wonderings: Journeys into Prehistoric Britain (William Collins, 2017).

Writer and Historian Marina Warner is among the many people who have praised the book. She said: ”James Canton's involvement with Essex is long and deep, and in this book of walking, remembering, and reflecting, he picks up echoes from many writers who are connected to its villages, towns and surrounding countryside.”

Creative Writing Lecturer Matthew De Abaitua is nominated for Self & I – a memoir of literary ambition (Eye Books, 2018), charting the author’s own development while working as assistant to ‘literary phenomenon’ Will Self. The Times highlighted it as “a sincere, touching book”.

Professor of Environment and Society and our Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Jules Pretty is nominated for The East Country: Almanac Tales of Valley and Shore (originally published by Cornell University Press in 2017; Comstock Publishing, 2018). The book is described as “a work of creative non-fiction… (integrating) memoir, natural history, cultural critique and spiritual reflection.”

The New Angle Prize shortlist will be announced on 25 March, with shortlisted authors featured in an event at the Ipswich Institute on Wednesday 1 May.

Prize-winners will be announced at the Awards Dinner on Wednesday 3 July.