America’s starving artists

AMERICAN writer Bret Anthony Johnston, pictured, scooped a cool £30,000 last night, as he was named the winner of The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. Johnston used the occasion at the Stationers’ Hall to criticise his home country. “You may have noticed that America is going down the toilet,” he said. “That man, whose name I will not utter, is starving the arts and artists.”

There were loud cheers from the assembled guests, who included novelists Sebastian Faulks, Kazuo Ishiguro, Rose Tremain and Sarah Waters, as well as former arts minister Ed Vaizey, wistfully remembering with fondness his six years as arts minister, and perhaps wondering who might have the job after any postelection reshuffle. Also there was Edna O’Brien, 86 years young but still looking after her interests, plugging the Chichester stage adaptation of her book Country Girls to those around her.

The prize was given away by broadcaster and writer Mark Lawson, though with an unfortunate slip of the tongue he was introduced by Sunday Times literary editor Andrew Holgate as Dominic Lawson. You say potato...