be a costa judge    

Please see below for a hot off the wires press release that could give one book lover an opportunity of a lifetime!

 

COSTA LAUNCHES COMPETITION TO FIND MEMBER OF PUBLIC TO JOIN BOOK PRIZE FINAL JUDGING PANEL

Costa is offering one UK reader the chance to join the judging panel that decides the winner of the prestigious Costa Book of the Year.  This is the first time a major book prize has offered this opportunity to a member of the public.

The prize includes attending the final judging meeting in January 2009 with the nine other judging panel members to decide the Costa Book of the Year 2008. The winner will also attend the Costa Book Awards gala dinner and awards presentation.

 

From Wednesday 1st October 2008, the competition will be promoted throughout all of Costa’s UK stores with entries submitted via www.costabookawards.com.

The winner of the competition will join the Costa Book of the Year final judging panel which comprises a representative from each of the five category judging panels, and four people from outside the literary world who love reading, including a Chairman.

 

The competition is open to all UK adults aged 18 or over.  To qualify for entry, entrants must submit a 300-word book review and a 500-word application setting out their suitability for the role. 

From the entries received, a shortlist of 12 will be selected.  The 12 shortlisted entrants will then be invited to London to attend a book review debate presided over by author Joanna Trollope, Chairman of the 2007 final judging panel, from which one winner will be selected.   

 

The Costa Book Awards 2008 final judging panel will be revealed in December.

 

“This competition is very exciting because it has the sheer pleasure of reading at its core,” commented Joanna Trollope. “I was thrilled to be asked to be involved and will be looking for entertaining opinions, articulate delivery and most importantly, a real, demonstrable passion for books and reading.”

 

The closing date for entries is 31st October 2008. 

For more information on this year’s Costa Book Awards, go to www.costabookawards.com.