My Sunday got off to a brilliant start with a comment piece from culture guru, Robert McCrum, in his weekly Observer column

"The news that Man Booker is to host a "Lost Booker" prize for the class of 1970 (including neglected work by HE Bates, Melvyn Bragg, Muriel Spark, Ruth Rendell and Susan Hill plus Joe Orton's posthumous novel Head To Toe) shows that Booker's publicity department is as full of resource as ever. When it comes to boosting their brand, these people are Olympians of spin."

 

Robert's on about the Lost Man Booker, a spin-off campaign we've set up to honour books published in 1970 which missed out on the opportunity to win the Booker Prize. In 1971, just two years after it began, the Booker Prize ceased to be awarded retrospectively and became, as it is today, a prize for the best novel in the year of publication. At the same time, the date on which the award was given moved from April to November.  As a result, there was a whole year's gap when a wealth of fiction, published in1970, fell through the net. These books were simply never considered for the prize. A shortlist of 22 books, all in print today, are being considered for the prize which will be awarded in May.

So now we are the Olympians of spin. Thank you, Robert!

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