Strictly come Booker

I met Michael Stewart who runs the Huddersfield Literary festival yeserday. We had several cups of tea and coffee and talked about books and stuff and The Northern Literary Award, The Ferret. The award will be launched at The Huddersfield Literary Festival in March. Official. Those Man Booker types are already quaking in their boots. We have to work out the selection criteria and tweak a few things but we've started. Now we have to get the news media excited. A nude Alan Bennett would be good, well, we'd get a few column inches. And I think yer man David Hockney should design the Ferret. We'll let him smoke at the awards ceremony so he'll come. He'll probably draw a man smoking a cigarette sticking two fingers up. See, it's all coming together. Before you know it I'll be on Wogan spouting about etymylogical half siblings and marvelling at Martin Amis's teeth. I've already booked some dancing lessons for my arrival on 'Strictly come Booker.'