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30-772: The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize , are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland , United Kingdom , the prizes were founded in 1919 by Janet Coats Black in memory of her late husband, James Tait Black, a partner in the publishing house of A & C Black Ltd. Prizes are awarded in three categories: Fiction, Biography and Drama (since 2013). From its inception,

60-441: A beautiful interior and exterior place. Beauty is the essential core of ceremony, having always been part of "raising the spirit" and embedding the good in the memory. Ceremonies, as they always had been, are historically the bridge between the visual and performing arts and the people. Murphy and his followers, and international practitioners such as David Oldfield of Washington DC understand that ceremonies are core expressions of

90-407: A civilised, stable and happy society. Here he echoed the conviction of the mythologist Joseph Campbell who had maintained the strongly asserted generality that the level of civilised behaviour in a society is directly linked to the practice of ceremonies and rites of passage . In addition, Messenger makes the following statements: To be powerful and effective, such ceremonies, in the view of all

120-437: A person inspired to improve lives at a deep and lasting level. For this reason they must be carefully chosen. The ideal is that they be educated in the humanities and trained to expertly co-create, creatively write and perform ceremonies. The funeral ritual, too, is a public, traditional and symbolic means of expressing our beliefs, thoughts and feelings about the death of someone loved. Rich in history and rife with symbolism,

150-501: A sense of identity, esteem, shared values and beliefs and shared memorable events. Every ritual contains tender and sacred moments. And in those moments of sensitivity We are taken out of the normal flow of life, And out of our routines. We are then in an event that is irreplaceable and sacred . In ritual we participate in something deep and significant. They are moments which move our heart And touch our spirit. Lionel Murphy also knew that

180-454: Is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin caerimonia . According to Dally Messenger and Alain de Botton , in most Western countries the values and ideals articulated in both church and civil ceremonies are generally similar. The difference

210-530: Is in what Messenger calls the "supernatural infrastructure" or de Botton the "implausible supernatural element". Most religions claim some extra advantage conferred by the deity, e.g., Roman Catholics believe that through the words of consecration in the mass ceremony, God himself becomes actually present on the altar. Both religious and civil ceremonies share the powerful psychological, social and cultural influences which all ceremony seeks to attain. The style of music played, words used, other components and

240-481: Is now supplemented by the university and, as a consequence, the total prize fund rose from 2005 awards. Each of the three annual prizes—one for fiction, one for biography, and one for drama—is worth £10,000. The university is advised in relation to the development and administration of the Prize by a small committee which includes Ian Rankin , Alexander McCall Smith and James Naughtie amongst its members. In August 2007

270-586: The Bookseller /Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year , and the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction and Lyttle Lytton Contests , given to deliberately bad grammar There are also literary awards targeted specifically to encourage the writing from African American origin and authors of African descent. Two of these awards are Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence , which was established in 2007 by

300-740: The Baton Rouge Area Foundation , and Hurston/Wright Legacy Award , which is a given by the National Community of Black Writers. Australian author Richard Flanagan wrote a critique of literary awards, saying "National prizes are often a barometer of bourgeois bad taste." He says juries can be influenced by vendettas, paybacks and payoffs, "most judges are fair-minded people. But hate, conceit and jealousy are no less human attributes than wisdom, judgment and knowledge." Book prizes will sometimes compete with one another, and these goals do not always coincide with anointing

330-1024: The Booker Prize , The Writers' Prize , the Pulitzer Prize and the Hugo Award ( English ). Other international literary prizes include the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Franz Kafka Prize , and the Jerusalem Prize . The International Dublin Literary Award is given to writers, as well as to the translator(s) if the book chosen was written in a language other than English. Spoof awards include: The Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction Award ,

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360-505: The Circus . Literary prize Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony . Many awards are structured with one organization (usually a non-profit organization) as the presenter and public face of the award, and another organization as the financial sponsor or backer, who pays the prize remuneration and the cost of the ceremony and public relations, typically a corporate sponsor who may sometimes attach their name to

390-528: The James Tait Black for fiction, whilst Doris Lessing took the prize for biography. In addition to these literary Nobels, Sir Ronald Ross , whose 1923 autobiography Memoirs, Etc. received the biography prize, was already a Nobel laureate, having been awarded the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on malaria. In 2012, a third prize category was announced for Drama, with

420-628: The James Tait Black prize was organised without overt publicity. There was a lack of press and publisher attention, initially at least, because Edinburgh was distant from the literary centres of the country. The decision about the award was made by the Regius Chair of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres at the University of Edinburgh. Four winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature received the James Tait Black earlier in their careers: William Golding , Nadine Gordimer and J. M. Coetzee each collected

450-433: The James Tait Black' (in addition to the normal prize for that year). The award celebrated the fiction winners over the past 93 years, as part of the 250th anniversary of the study of English Literature at the university. A shortlist of six previous winners competed for the title of Best. A judging panel of celebrity alumni and writers decided on the winner, which was announced on 6 December 2012 as Angela Carter 's Nights at

480-533: The United Kingdom and some states of the US. According to Dally Messenger III secular ceremonies are "roadmap" influences which lead to an acceptable, ethical and dignified life. Ceremonies contribute to the unseen ingredients of psychological stability, a sense of identity, reassurances of life's purposes, and the personal sense of self-worth. Murphy considered that personal genuine ceremonies were central to

510-575: The award (such as the Orange Prize ). There are awards for various writing formats including poetry and novels . Many awards are also dedicated to a certain genre of fiction or non-fiction writing (such as science fiction or politics ). There are also awards dedicated to works in individual languages, such as the Miguel de Cervantes Prize ( Spanish ); the Camões Prize ( Portuguese );

540-525: The best winner. Sometimes juries can not decide between two contentious books so they will compromise with a third inoffensive bland book. He says there are now so many awards and prizes it has diluted the prestige of being a prize-winning book. Flanagan clarifies he is not against literary awards, but believes they should not be taken too seriously as a form of support for literary culture. Ceremony A ceremony ( UK : / ˈ s ɛ r ə m ə n i / , US : / ˈ s ɛ r ə ˌ m oʊ n i / )

570-597: The contract, exchange of rings and the wedding cake . Writer and philosopher de Botton maintains atheists should appropriate many of the useful insights, artistic treasures and symbolism inspired by religion. He argues that the secular world can also learn from the religions the importance of community and continuity. Messenger agrees, and points out that the success of civil celebrants in Australia has been partly due to their espousing of these principles, both in theory and practice, since 1973. The main impetus to

600-425: The culture. Done well, they can assist in major decision-making , bring emotional security , strengthen bonds between people , and communicate a sense of contentment . To quote David Oldfield: Rituals and ceremonies are an essential and basic means for human beings to give themselves and others the necessary messages which enable the individual to stay human. They communicate acceptance, love,

630-520: The development of quality civil ceremonies in the Western world was the foresight of the Australian statesman, senator and high court judge, Lionel Murphy . In 1973 in Australia, the civil celebrant program entrusted appropriately selected individuals to provide non-church people with ceremonies of substance and dignity. This initiative to a great extent has now been followed by New Zealand, Canada,

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660-632: The first winner of this award announced in August 2013. The drama prize was paused after the 2019 award, during the COVID-19 pandemic , and as of March 2024 the university states that "submissions may re-open in January 2025". The winners are chosen by the Professor of English Literature at the university, who is assisted by postgraduate students in the shortlisting phase, a structure that is seen to lend

690-419: The funeral ceremony helps us acknowledge the reality of the death, gives testimony to the life of the deceased, encourages the expression of grief in a way consistent with the culture's values, provides support to mourners, allows for the embracing of faith and beliefs about life and death, and offers continuity and hope for the living. Naming Ceremonies existed in human culture long before Christianity or any of

720-443: The major religions came on the scene. Every community has a ceremony to welcome a new child into the world, to give that child recognition, and to celebrate the birth of new life. Other, society-wide ceremonies may mark annual or seasonal or recurrent events such as: Other ceremonies underscore the importance of non-regular special occasions, such as: In some Asian cultures, ceremonies also play an important social role, for example

750-570: The prize ceremony was held at the Edinburgh International Book Festival for the first time. For the book prizes works of fiction and biographies must be written in English. The nationality of the author does not matter, but submissions must be first published (or co-published) in Britain during the calendar year of the award. Any given author can only win each prize once. However, he or she can win both prizes at

780-409: The prizes considerable gravitas. At the award of the 2006 prizes, at which Cormac McCarthy was a winner, McCarthy's publisher commented positively on the selection process, noting that, in the absence of a sponsor and literary or media figures amongst the judging panel, the decision is made by "students and professors, whose only real agenda can be great books and great writing". The original endowment

810-402: The same time. For the drama category, the work must be originally written in either English, Gaelic or Welsh, be produced first during the previous calendar year, have a playing time over one hour, and have been performed no fewer than seven times by a professional theatre company. Source. Ian Penman , Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors In 2012, a special prize was given called the 'Best of

840-449: The scholars in the field, had to have impact. This occurred when the ceremony was framed by the visual and performing arts. Great care had to be taken in creating and choosing the poetry, prose, stories, personal journeys, myths, silences, dance, music and song, shared meditations, choreography and symbolism which comprised a ceremony. To reinforce the psychological and cultural power of ceremony it should be enacted, as far as possible, in

870-453: The structure vary. As Edward Schillebeeckx writes about the marriage ceremony , there are a number of ancient traditional elements in both church and civil ceremonies in the western world. Key ceremonies date from the pre-Christian Roman and Greek times, and their practices have continued through the centuries. For example, from pre-Christian Roman times in the marriage ceremony, we inherit best men and bridesmaids , processions, signing of

900-408: The superficial, the unaware, were not the right persons to bring this about. The civil celebrant needs to have a rich skill-set and knowledge base. Murphy is on the record as asserting that the civil celebrant needed to have a "feel" for ceremony and be professional, knowledgeable, educated, creative, imaginative, inspired, well presented, idealistic, and well practised. The civil celebrant should be

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