After an initial two-year partnership, publisher the Folio Society has announced that it will not be renewing its sponsorship of the Folio prize for fiction.
The award was announced as the Literature prize in 2011, following accusations that the Man Booker prize jury was “dumbing down” their choice of titles. Co-founder Andrew Kidd wrote at the time that “a space has opened up for a new prize in the UK that celebrates excellence and is judged by experts in the field of literature”, and the Folio Society was named as main sponsor in March 2013.
Worth £40,000, the prize is open to English-language fiction from around the world, with the longlist proposed by an “academy” of authors and critics from which each year’s judging panel is drawn. The first two winners were George Saunders in 2014 for his short story collection Tenth of December and Akhil Sharma in March this year for his autobiographical novel about an Indian family who move to the US, Family Life.
Since the prize was announced, other awards have encroached on its territory: the Goldsmiths prize was established in 2013 for UK and Irish fiction that “opens up new possibilities for the novel form”, while from 2014 the Man Booker prize has been widened to include fiction in English from across the globe.
Andrew Kidd said: “Just over two years ago we set out on a journey with the Folio Society to turn a bold idea into a reality. While we are parting ways with deep gratitude for all that they have done, we are also looking with excitement to the future. This is merely the first chapter for the prize.”
Jean Marc Rathé, marketing director of the Folio Society, said: “There are many opportunities that we look forward to in the world of fine book publishing, and now that our ambition of ensuring the successful launch and firm establishment of the prize on the literary scene has been fulfilled, we feel it is time to move towards these new opportunities.”
