decibel Penguin Prize seeking talented writers of Non-fiction

Penguin and decibel are once again collaborating to produce two further books in the decibel Penguin Prize series. The popular book publisher and the Arts Council initiative, with specific aims to raise the profile of artists from culturally diverse backgrounds hope to launch the second run of this competition this month.

The second volume in the series, subtitled : Personal Tales of Immigration to Britain will concentrate on non-fiction accounts about experiences of immigration to the UK. Entrants are asked to submit their accounts by 2nd April 2007 and the book will be published 29th November 2007.

The competition acts as a platform for writers to showcase their work, as well as one for Penguin to discover new writers. It’s patron is the Minister for Culture David Lammy MP. Though it is aimed at people from culturally diverse backgrounds, the competition has met with detractors, not surprisingly from the BNP, who in an article ‘Whites need not apply’ advocated the boycott of Penguin books. In a recent press release, the competition organisers admitted falling foul of CRE complaints about the legality of the competition rules in solely targeting writers who met the decibel remit.

Volume 1, which was published in Nov 2006 included ten short stories by the following writers. Pauline Kam, Aoi Matsushima, Patrice Lawrence, Rowena Fan, Crista Ermiya, Sylvia Jean Dickinson, Saman Shad, Kachi A Ozumba, Ahtzaz Hassan, and Neil Wellappili.

The competition will officially launch on January 8th, when applications forms will be available at regional Arts Council offices and libraries. The competition deadline is April 2nd 2007.

Further information & links

• decibel