Prize shines a light on proud literary traditions of the Potteries

THERE are numerous book prizes that writers and authors can enter hoping for recognition.

- Fred Hughes - Historian and author

Well-known and prestigious awards include the Booker Prize, the Costa Book Awards, the Orwell Prize, and the Women's Prize for Fiction. Other literary awards are centred on specific categories, such as first novels, and poetry, or geographic regions of which the Wales Book of the Year, or the Scotland's National Book Awards are numbered.

In reality there are hundreds of book prizes in the UK, including the Arnold Bennett Book Prize, an annual, sometimes occasional, literary award that recognises authors who are connected to North Staffordshire by birth or residence, or work, and whose entries feature the area. This prize was established in 2017, and I am flattered to have been included as a member of several of the judging panels.

The prize is not specific to fiction, although novels have been prominent since the award began. Among these are Lisa Blower's short story collection It's Gone Dark Over Bill's Mother's, a book of short stories that portray a series of Stoke-on-Trent characters such as the unyielding Nan in the tale entitled Broken Crockery, and the resourceful woman of the streets Ruthie in The Land of Make Believe.