Skip to Content

Diagram Prize

Set up by Bookseller (the UK book trade weekly)in association with Diagram Group; been running since 1978 - joyous celebration of barmy side of publishing

Diagram Prize 2004

Thu, 28/07/2016 - 10:40pm
The 2004 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year

The prize this year goes to the quite barmy Bombproof Your Horse, which even in these troubling times would seem to be advocating taking things a bit far...  Read more

Diagram Prize 2005

Thu, 28/07/2016 - 10:40pm
The 2005 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year

The shortlist for the 2005 prize was announced recently.  My favourite competition of the year is run by columnist Horace Bent in the Bookseller (the UK book trade weekly) with input from dedicated odd title hunters from all over the world.  Read more

Diagram Prize 2006

Thu, 28/07/2016 - 10:38pm
The 2006 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year

The shortlist for the 2006 prize has received unprecedented international coverage, from the Orlando Sentinel to the Hindu. In the UK listeners were bemused by the Today programme running a competition for listeners to imagine the titles were for a novel and to write the opening paragraphs.  Read more

Diagram Prize 2006 winner

Thu, 28/07/2016 - 10:38pm
The 2006 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year

The winner of this prize has now been announced in the Bookseller and is:

The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification by Julian Montague, published by Harry N Abrams.

There were 5,500 votes in all on theBookseller.com, more than ever before. The runner-up was Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoon Boxes of Daghestan.  Read more

Diagram Prize 2007

Thu, 28/07/2016 - 10:37pm
The 2007 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year

It's too early yet for the shortlist for the Diagram Prize, but there are some fantastic early entries and this already looks like a vintage year.  Read more

Diagram Prize shortlist 2007

Thu, 28/07/2016 - 10:36pm
The 2007 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year

Here's the wonderful shortlist for the 2007 Diagram Prize; this really does looks like a vintage year.  Read more

Diagram Prize winner 2007

Thu, 28/07/2016 - 10:36pm
The 2007 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year - winner announced

The winner of the 2007 Diagram Prize is:

If You want Closure in Your Relationship, Start with Your Legs

by the wonderfully-named Big Boom, published by Simon and Schuster.  Read more

Diagram Prize shortlist 2008

The 2008 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year

Here's the shortlist for the 2008 Diagram Prize.  It looks like it's going to be another strong year.  Read more

© Chris Holifield 2016-16

Diagram Prize winner 2008

The 2008 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year

The winner's now been announced for the 2008 Diagram Prize after another strong year.  Read more

© Chris Holifield 2016-16

Diagram Prize winner 2009

The 2009 Diagram Prize for the Oddest Title of the Year

The winner of the 2009 Diagram Prize has now been announced

Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes by Dr Daina Taimina (A K Peters) has won the 2009 Diagram Prize, having received the majority of the public vote for the oddest titled book of the year at thebookseller.com.  Read more

© Chris Holifield 2016-16
Syndicate content

Linked items...

15 October 2018 - What's new

October 2018
  • 'So, true story... I was asked once during a Q&A session whether I would use a ghostwriter to write my own memoir. Ha ha ha, everyone in the room laughed. Funny question. ‘But really... would you?' my questioner insisted.
  Read more

National Poetry Competition 2018

Information

Closing date: 
31 October 2018
Entry: 
Open to any poet from across the world aged 17 or over at the time of entering £7 for your first poem, and £4 per poem thereafter. Members of The Poetry Society can enter a second poem for free
Prize: 
First Prize £5,000 with 9 other cash prizes

Now in its 40th year, the National Poetry CompetitionAnnual poetry prize run by the UK-based Poetry Society established in 1978; accepts entries from all over the world; over 10,000 poems submitted each year is open for entries! Judged by Kei Miller, Kim Moore and Mark Waldron, there are 10 cash prizes, including a first prize of £5000.  Read more

A ghost writer on ghostwriting

15 October 2018

'So, true story... I was asked once during a Q&A session whether I would use a ghostwriter to write my own memoir. Ha ha ha, everyone in the room laughed. Funny question. ‘But really... would you?' my questioner insisted.  Read more

The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not.

— Kurt Vonnegut

8 October 2018 - What's new

October 2018
  • ‘I have always loved reading, but when I was at school, especially in primary school, I didn't realise that I did. The reason for this was that what seemed to count as ‘reading' was, in fact, something much more specific: reading meant fiction, and it meant chapter books. To read a book also meant to start at the beginning, and to finish at the end.
  Read more