Say hello to the Lit Idol

Paul Cavanagh and runner-up Karen Barichievy at the Lit Idol Awards
11 April 2012
The Weekender

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A 41-year-old former university professor was lucked from obscurity in a literary version of Pop Idol last night.

Paul Cavanagh was named winner of Lit Idol, a contest designed to unearth Britain's "hottest fiction talent".

Cavanagh, from Ontario, Canada, secures representation by the literary and media agency Curtis Brown after winning the contest, the first of its kind, with his work, entitled Northwest Passage.

He is being tipped to secure a publishing deal after reading aloud an excerpt of his novel, together with the other shortlisted finalists, in front of 600 people at the London Book Fair.

The 1,466 entries were asked to submit up to 10,000 words from the opening chapters of a novel and a two page synopsis when they entered the competition.

The shortlisted entries were also subject to a people's vote, counting for 25% of the decision, after they were asked to enter samples of their work on the Internet. A panel of experts made the final choice.

The literary prize has been criticised for reducing writers to the status of "performing seals" by those who say authors should not have to read out their work.

Cavanagh beat a senior strategic planner, a production manager, a freelance journalist, a PA and former academic to the top prize.

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