HELEN’S INSIDE THE WAVE CREATES FINAL RIPPLES

Poet Helen Dunmore died of cancer in June 2017. Her final poetry collection, Inside the Wave, received the Costa Book prize, recently

British poetess, novelist and children’s writer Helen Dunmore has won the Costa Book prize for poetry posthumously for her final poetry collection, Inside the Wave.

The 64-year-old writer died of cancer in June 2017. The judges described the collection as a “final great achievement”.

Besides 10 collections of poetry, Dunmore’s ouevre includes 12 novels, three short story collections and several books for children and young adults. “We are absolutely thrilled, I think that it is particularly pleasing win because poetry was so important to my mother,” The Telegraph quoted her son Patrick Charnley as saying.

Gail Honeyman won the Costa first novel award for her debut, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, while Jon McGregor won the Costa novel award for his fourth novel, Reservoir 13. In the Days of Rain by Rebecca Stott bagged the biography award and the children’s book award went to Katherine Rundell for The Explorer.

The five winners, selected from 620 entries, will each receive £5,000 (₹4.3 lac approx). A nine-member panel will select one of the titles as the overall Costa Book of the Year, which will be announced at a ceremony in London on 30 January, reports the BBC. The Costa book awards are open only to writers in the UK and Ireland.

We are absolutely thrilled, I think that it is particularly pleasing win because poetry was so important to my mother PATRICK CHARNLEY POETESS’ SON