Le PrinceMaurice

Prize 2006

Tim Lott, president of the prize,comments :

This prize celebrates fine writing about the theme arguably

most fundamental to all art and literature - that of love.

Whether defined romantically, religiously, in terms of family or

friendship, or even nationally and culturally, Le Prince

Maurice Prize aims to give writers of the heart the same

chance of recognition as writers of ‘the head’ - although the

two, of course, are by no means mutually exclusive.

“

”

Le Prince MauricePrize 2006

A new literary prizeA new literary prize has been launched which aims to celebrate the very best in

literary love stories. Le Prince Maurice Prize, arguably the most romantic

book prize in the world, will be awarded to the best literary love story published

alternately in English one year and in French the next.

The winner will receive a trophy and a fortnight’s all expenses paid writer’s

retreat at the five-star Prince Maurice Hotel, in Mauritius.

All three shortlisted authors will be invited to spend a week in Le Prince

Maurice as guests of the hotel while the judging process is taking place in late

May, culminating in the awards ceremony on 27 May, 2006.

Le Prince Maurice Hotel is one of the world’s most elegant five-star resorts,

which boasts white sands, azure seas and an exceptionally romantic setting.

With this prize, the hotel is proving itself as a place where the mind, as well as

the body, can be engaged and indulged.

The awards ceremonyThe announcement of the winner of Le Prince Maurice Prize 2006 will be

made at an awards ceremony at Le Prince Maurice in May 2006. This will

be followed by a gala dinner orchestrated and prepared by a legendary Chef.

The chair of the judges will deliver his appreciation before an invited audience,

and this will provide an opportunity to celebrate the winner in the company of

the other shortlisted authors, the judges and the prize’s supporters.

Unique in the world of literatureLe Prince Maurice Prize is set to be a unique fixture in the literary world;

furnishing romantic fiction with the recognition it deserves. With its prestigious

panel of judges and unparalleled setting, it is destined to become a key date in

the literary calendar.

Last winner in EnglishLast winner in English was Buddha Da by Anne Donovan (Canongate), the

delightful story of a Glaswegian housepainter who, after converting to

Buddhism, faces losing his whole family because of his growing spiritual beliefs.

The 2004 judges - among them Jonathan Coe, Clive Anderson and Miranda

Carter - found it to be ‘suffused with the spirit of love’.

Last winners in French were Alain Boublil for Les dessous de soi and Louise

Blovin for L’or des fous.

The judgingFor a prize of such prestige, it is of great importance to have a panel with a

deep knowledge and love of fiction writing.The panel for the 2006 prize boasts

an outstanding line-up of writers both established and new, representing a wide

range of artistic, literary and international interests.

They are :

• Tim Lott (chair), novelist, journalist and travel writer

• Helen Dunmore, novelist and poet

• Mel Finn, first-time novelist, longlisted for this year’s Orange Prize

• Howard Jacobson, bestselling comic and literary novelist

• Blake Morrison, novelist, journalist, poet and critic

• Matt Thorne, novelist, journalist and literary critic

• Jacqueline Wilson, newly-appointed children’s laureate and most borrowed

author in UK libraries

• Francois Antelme, novelist

• Alain Gordon-Gentil, journalist, critic and novelist

• Carl de Souza, novelist and professor

The judging panel, chaired by Tim Lott, will be responsible for compiling a

longlist, followed by a shortlist of three books and finally the winner.The judges

will be considering novels published in the two years up to the end of 2005.

Practicalities

Le Prince Maurice Prize, handled by Colman Getty PR.

Please contact the following:

Press enquiries : Ruth Cairns

Submissions : Alice Kavanagh

Colman Getty PR

Middlesex House

34-42 Cleveland Street

London

W1T 4JE

Telephone +44 (0)20 7631 2666

Email : firstname@colmangettypr.c.uk

www.princemaurice.comCommunication Department

comm@constancehotels.com

Le Prince MauriceLocated in the north-east of Mauritius, Le Prince Maurice

is one of only 17 hotels in the world to have been awarded

'palace' status by Relais & Châteaux. The hotel is set within

60 acres of tropical gardens with three beaches and its own cool,

sapphire lagoon of reef-protected shallows. The use of wood,

stone and thatch gives the property a contemporary

Mauritian atmosphere, while the main entrance gives way to

mirrored pools, a 40-metre slate-lined infinity pool curving

out towards the beach where elegant wooden sun-loungers are

laid out under calico umbrellas. Some of the hotel's colonial-

style suites, with their polished teak floors, dark wooden

Venetian blinds and hessian-lined ceilings, are built on stilts

over a natural fish reserve, while the large senior suites face the

sea and have private plunge pools and sunken Jacuzzis in the

gardens. The hotel has a Guerlain Spa and a kid's club, as well

as a floating restaurant, Le Barachois, which is reached rather

romantically by a snaking gangplank, navigable through

twisting mangrove trees.

Choisy Road, Poste de Flacq, MauritiusTel:(230) 413 9100 - Fax: (230) 413 9130Email: resa@princemaurice.com - Website: constancehotels.com