Over the past week CG has celebrated two special occasions in Cheltenham: the start of the 59th Times Cheltenham Literature Festival and the launch of a rather unusual new literature prize.

The Wellcome Trust Book Prize, launched by CG and The Wellcome Trust on the second day of the festival, is the first ever award to celebrate medicine in literature. The winner will be awarded £25,000 in November 2009.

Brian Hurwitz,  Wellcome Trust's Tony Woods, Gwyneth Lewis, Quentin Cooper and Raymond Tallis 

Comedienne and former psychiatric nurse Jo Brand is acting as Chair of the 2009 judging panel. Jo joined Saturday's event via a video message  and said  about the prize : "Good and bad health are pretty fundamental to all our lives, so it's no surprise these themes crop up fairly often in literature too. The Wellcome Trust Book Prize recognises writers who have incorporated medicine in such a way as to really engage readers with the subject, exploring our understanding of what it means to be healthy or sick.  I'm sure there are going to be plenty of wonderful books for me and the other judges to read. I just hope we can reach a final decision without too much damage to our own health."

The other four judges attending CG's launch event included BBC science journalist Quentin Cooper, Welsh poet and non-fiction writer Gwyneth Lewis, physician and author Raymond Tallis and Professor of Medicine in the Arts Brian Hurwitz.

CG's Ruth Cairns and Judge Quentin Cooper

The Cheltenham Literature Festival proved the perfect setting for the launch of such an innovative literary prize. This year's festival has already seen record-breaking ticket sales and an assortment of high-profile speaker events - including a surprise appearance from Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Friday.  Revelations arising at the festival include Russell T Davies calling Prince Charles 'a miserable swine' for snubbing an invitation to appear on Dr Who and Roger Moore's confession of wanting to be a Bond villain.

The festival continues until Sunday 19th October - so expect further secrets to be uncovered!

To find out more, visit http://www.wellcomebookprize.org or www.cheltenhamfestivals.com.

BLOGGER: Elise Oliver