The Londoner: Funny book prize fiasco is no joke

Bollinger prize cancelled as authors fail to amuse / Amal Clooney's dress causes a stir / Stars take over the new Royal Academy / The US Embassy gets a hot water tap / 
2011 winner Gary Shteyngart poses with judge James Naughtie
Getty Images
16 May 2018

The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction has cancelled the award this year on grounds that they couldn’t find an author funny enough. Organisers say they received 62 submissions but none of them “prompted unanimous, abundant laughter from the judging panel”.

The award, named after humourist PG Wodehouse, has been rewarding the UK’s comic authors since 2000, but this is the first year judges have been unable to select a winner. “It’s good to keep standard’s up,” organisers told us this morning. Previous winners have included Hannah Rothschild (far left) and Edward St Aubyn (left)— whose Patrick Melrose books have been adapted by Sky Atlantic. Marina Lewycka’s A Short History of Tractor Driving in the Ukraine was recalled as a particular highlight. So has 2017/2018 been uniquely mirthless? “There are years like this,” says David Campbell, judge and Everyman publisher. “We looked at these books, many of which weren’t even remotely funny. They were great novels but we had a rule: if we didn’t laugh by page 10 we would stop reading.”

Perhaps the funniest book of the year was Sean Penn’s Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff. Unfortunately, being both American and a serious attempt at a detective story it wasn’t included in the shortlist. Other authors of “funny” books over the past year include Marian Keyes, Tracy Bloom, Sophie Kinsella, Nick Spalding and Joe Dunthorne. Some were on the longlist but didn’t make the whittle to the last five, which in turn didn’t make it beyond the judging panel. Judges included the BBC’s James Naughtie and Hay Festival director Peter Florence.

There will be a rollover jackpot next year. “The prize has indeed doubled for next year,” Campbell says. “We will be awarding a methuselah of Bollinger, instead of a magnum.” There is also an eccentric tradition of using the award’s winning title to name a Hay-on-Wye pig.

Amal upgraded on her Ford at the Met

Ford's replacement: Amal Clooney: (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Getty Images

No ONE was more confounded by Amal Clooney’s much puzzled-over dress at the Met Gala than Tom Ford who, it transpires, had spent weeks designing her a glittering red gown. Clooney swept on to the red carpet in a bustier, bulking floral train attached at the waist, and seemingly incongruous pair of black trousers by Richard Quinn. She had changed “at the last minute”. Says a source: “A casual change of heart causes a lot of heartache for those who put their blood, sweat and tears into creating a showstopper.”

---

Sports Minister Tracey Crouch paid tribute to departing Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger yesterday, but instantly regretted bringing up football. “She is a minister of many virtues,” said Huw Merriman MP. “Her support for her football club is, sadly, the one stain on her great character: she is a Spurs fan.” Speaker John Bercow added: “There is no cure.”

---

“It is one of the most advanced embassies we have ever built,” US Ambassador Woody Johnson wrote in the Evening Standard. So what are the highlights? Searching for an answer, one diplomat tells us: “Well, we’ve got one of those boiling water taps.”

Alexandra and son join artist crowd at launch of new Royal Academy

High-flying family: Alexandra Shulman and Sam Spike: (Photo by Darren Gerrish/WireImage) 
WireImage

The art world congregated in Piccadilly last night for the opening of the new Royal Academy of Arts. Vogue’s former editor Alexandra Shulman was joined by her 22-year-old son, Sam Spike, who recently landed a job in art curation at the Courtauld having left The Met in New York.

Artist Grayson Perry arrived dressed uncharacteristically in mufti (but with orange painted nails).

Dancer Dame Darcey Bussell and photographer Don McCullin also attended, while singer-songwriter Tom Odell performed, among other hits, Grow Old With Me.

The Royal Academy — celebrating its 250th anniversary — has undergone a £56 million redesign by Sir David Chipperfield in the past three years.

As well as creating more space to showcase its permanent collection, the building now has a bridge linking the main site of Burlington House to the new wing in Burlington Gardens.

SW1A

The Labour Party is struggling to sell tickets to Labour Live, its answer to Glastonbury. Conservative MPs offer help. At the Centre for Policy Studies’ “New Blue: Ideas for a New Generation” reception, Tories revealed which acts would tempt them along to the June event. “The Rolling Stones,” said Liz Truss, Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Kemi Badenoch (below) chose Michael Jackson. Michael Gove plumped for Simple Minds.

---

On the subject of falling political stock, Nigel Farage is due to speak at Whitehaven Golf Club in Cumbria on June 1. The New European notes that tickets were originally £85, but have now been discounted to £35.

---

AFTER his CPS speech, Michael Gove hurried to another event at the Tate, hosted by Dan Hannan, the Tory MEP currently expressing discomfort over the way Brexit is panning out. Oh to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.

Quote of the day

‘The knee action in this dance fad embodies simultaneous flexion, extension, adducation, circumduction and rotation’

Tom Wolfe, who died on Monday, describes The Twist

Liz spreads the words

Elizabeth Hurley, who played Vanessa Kensington in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, has to many Americans the classic English cut-glass accent. To that end, the actress, model and swimwear designer was approached by Words with Friends, a US wordgame app not dissimilar to Scrabble, to add to its expanding dictionary. The creators are now in possession of some crucial Eighties Sloane slang. “Imagine my glee when [they] asked me,” Hurley says. “Now, you can play with delightful British words like ‘collywobbles’, ‘blimey’ and ‘gobsmacked’. All thanks to me.”

Finsbury friends: Simon Callow, David Haig and Jeremy Corbyn (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Dave Benett/Getty Images

Luvvies Labour’s lost: Jeremy Corbyn last night joined actors Simon Callow (left) and David Haig (centre) to toast the fifth birthday of the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in