Papers relating to Booker Prize Publicity Committee, 12 Sep-12 Nov 196

Hardinge, George

English

Oxford Brookes University: RADAR

Booker Prize 1970 Notes of' a l 'l ce ting h e ld on 6 Novembe r 1969 At the meeting in th e Book e r :F'l o. t at th e St. J ames ' s Hotel on 6 Ifo v emb e r, whi ch wns at t e nded by iv~ark Longrn c:m , Jocelyn Ba ines, John I'lu rphy, f'lnrilyn ZdwPtrds nnd George Hnrdinge , the followi ng first thoughts and initi a l suggest ions wore nade about publici t y f'or th. 0 second Booke r Prize :-1. It was thougb.t th;::it th e r • should be a small , priva t e drinks party , to which th e lit e rnry o ditors and in each case th e npp ropri nt e gossip c::>lm:mists (i. e . a totr-11 of' two people from e nch pnp c r) should be invit e d to mee t the P A nnd th e :3ooke r s Books Co r:ini tt ec in nn otte• pt to enlist t:!:leir support in gene r al nnd th e ir good-will, sinc e th e y n r e n ll p e opl e with n g o nuinu inte r es t in books and li t e r <-1 ture who nre like ly to tnke n sympathe tic attitud e t ownrds th e p rize. The newspo.pers to b e invit ed would, on first thoughts , b e the Ob::, e rver, the Sunday Tir;10 s, t he Sund n.v Telegraph , t he Da ily Tel e graph, the Ti• o s a nd the Gunrdinn. 2. It was sugge sted tho.t so.:10 sort of outsid e poll shoul d b e run a ft e r the pnne l hnd nnnounc e d th e ir short list, so thcit th e r e • ight be , so to spoo.lc , nn nl t e rna tive winne r s e l e cted by a bo dy such ns the Libra ry Associo.tion or the Books e ll e rs Asso ci n tion. Or possibly the poll • ight b e run by a na ti ona l or provincial paper , such a s th e "Sv ening St a.nd n r d or the S eo t s mnn. 3, As r egRrds po int -of-sn l c publicity cato riAl, it was sugge st e d th n. t ~-los s Hi ggin s shoulc1 b e a ske d to give his nclvi ce nbout wh n t should b e done n.nd what should b e offe r e d t o books o lling shops in gene r a l, e xce pt for -W.H . Smith shops. As r e g a rds ';f. H . Smith shops, it wo.s a greed th ot Ho.rk Longonn wo uld tnlk to Trough ton a nd try to n rrnngo for Snith ' s to produce the ir own material sui t o d to the :Jooko r Prize. 4. As r egnrc1s th o pa.rty for th e o.nnouncer.1e nt, it w n s thought that n privat e hous e within, s a y, 10 n il e s of c entral London nnd pre fera bly with lit e r a ry associations might be n promising nnd unusuo.l venue . Vc1 rious hous e s were sugges t e d. Th e r o was so• e doubt a s to wh e ther we should t ake th e chen.pe st a nd e a si e st nnd most practical wo.y out , i .e . a d rinks party fre e t c the gu e sts, or wh e the r, nt th e o t e r end of the sea.lo , we should give o. huge b a ll o.nc1 g on o r n l brouhnho with oxp c nsi v o ticke ts . 'Ih c n ex t mo oting o f the Co r.1r.1ittoc wn s Rrrnngod for 3,30 p.n . o n 4 Do conber , to b e h e l d a t the Bo olc -., r Fl .:J. t . 

Notes of a meeting held 6 Nov 1969

https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/14b6963e-691d-4a1d-b9df-02fc952dd39c/1/1_2_1_1_015.pdf

Notes of a meeting held 6 Nov 1969

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