THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE
ONDAATJE PRIZE SHORTLIST

The Royal Society of Literature has announced the shortlist for the
2009 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize.

The £10,000 prize is awarded annually to a book of the highest literary merit -fiction, non-fiction or poetry - best evoking the spirit of a place.
The 2009 judges, Selina Hastings, Philip Hensher and Peter Porter, commended ‘compelling, individual voices, taut narrative and impressive research in six remarkable books from across a complete range of genres’

The Shortlist
Laura Beatty
Pollard (Chatto)

James Buchan
The Gate of Air (Maclehose Press)

Alexandra Fuller
The Legend of Colton H. Bryant
(Simon & Schuster)

Ian McDonald
Selected Poems (Macmillan Caribbean)

Adam Nicolson
Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History
(Harper Press)

Sarah Wise
The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum
(Bodley Head)

The winner will be announced on Monday, 18th May, 2009