Rudd's speech was well crafted but compere Rhys Muldoon stumbled on several occasions perhaps indicating a lack of rehearsal, which was also hinted at in the function layout where the seated writers (apart from the main section of guests) often had to clamber around chairs to get to the podium and the bouquets of flowers also had to be unceremoniously dumped against the wall as the prizewinners talked.

If more time is allotted (and most guests were present 30 minutes to one hour before the event began), then perhaps a more staged and vibrant event could be contemplated - for example using the Parliament House theatre Where audiovisuals could be used with appropriate readings from the prize winning novels and surely there should have been an opportunity to set up a book stall with all the contributors books available for sale and signing. Given the money for administratioN more thought needs to be given to a Booker-type lead up and thus more umph on the evening.

It will be interesting to assess long term media coverage of the event, given that it was held relatively late on a Friday evening. The local ABC Canberra news the next morning completely ignored the names of the winners and the event in general and simply asked Thomas Keneally and John Doyle what they thought of the Costello book.

In the end, however, the main point is that there were two worthy winners both of whom graciously acknowledged the Award's benefit to writers, a solitary profession, and the inspiration that the awards would give to others for the future.

Is celebrity culture killing the serious biography?

Valerie Grove, in the UK Times, wonders "in this age of fascination with showbusiness, are more serious 'lives' are being lost. Whose life would you want to write? Whose would you want to read? Biography, we're told, is in a parlous state. The 50 top-selling biographies/autobiographies today are dominated by showbiz celebrities (such as Russell Brand's My Booky Wook), sportsmen and chefs, or misery memoirs. Bucking the trend are Barack Obama, Amanda Foreman's Georgiana (reissued as a film tie-in) and the Mitfords' letters.

To illustrate the gap between critical and popular success, the recently-quoted indicator is that Hilary Spurling's life of Matisse, which won the Costa Prize, had sold 12,000 copies, while Being Jordan, the ghost-written memoirs of the glamour model Katie Price, shifted 335,000. Not really surprising; what's bought and read in quantity reflects the state of the nation. It's like comparing audiences for MTV and Radio 3".

Renowned Biographer Richard Holmes gives Seymour Lecture in Canberra

Valerie Grove's comments resonated when I met Richard Holmes last week in Canberra where he was delivering the first of his four Seymour Lectures in Biography at the National Library of Australia. Holmes is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Fellow of the British Academy and was awarded an OBE in 1992. He was awarded an honorary Litt.D. in 2000 by the University of East Anglia, and was Professor of Biographical Studies there from 2001-2007.

Richard Holmes was born in London in 1945 and educated at Downside School and Churchill College, Cambridge. He said that the fact that Churchill College was a relatively new College and had a science focus was particularly useful in providing him with the links between literature and science, which are amply reaffirmed in his new book 'The Age of Wonder. How the Romantic Generation discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science' (Harper, 2008, $59.99 hardback). The book which is also published by Pantheon in the USA, makes a radical re-interpretation of the impact of scientific discovery on Romanticism.

In relation to his new book, he stated that it was Coleridge's friendship with Humphrey Davey that lead him across to science topics and the relationship of Coleridge and Davey bridged the "two cultures".

His first book, 'Shelley: The Pursuit', was published in 1974 and won a Somerset Maugham Award. The first volume of his biography of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 'Coleridge: Early Visions', was published in 1989 and won the Whitbread Book of the Year award. The second volume 'Coleridge: Darker Reflections',published in 1998, won the Duff Cooper Prize.

'Dr Johnson & Mr Savage' (1993), an account of Johnson's undocumented friendship with the notorious poet Richard Savage, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for biography) in 1993. Professor John Sutherland of University College, London recently reviewing a new biography of Samuel Johnson by Peter Martin, quotes Johnson that "nobody could furnish the life of a man but those who had eat and drank and lived in social intercourse about him".

Holmes in his book 'Footsteps. Adventures of a Romantic Biographer' (1985) reflects that a biographer is a "sort of tramp permanently knocking at the kitchen window and secretly hoping he might be invited in for supper". I met Richard Holmes, not at the kitchen window, but in the entrance to his Capital Apartments in Canberra, where he extolled the virtues of the sunny weather (after the dreadful English cold and wet summer) and the glories of the cherry blossom which helped overcome thirty-four hours travel from England.

Holmes believes there are two "main elements, or closely entwined strands" in biography. "The first is the gathering of factual materials, the assembling in chronological order of a man's 'journey' through the world - the actions, the words, the recorded thoughts, the places and faces through which he moved - the 'life and letters'. The second is the creation of a fictional or imaginary relationship between the biographer and his subject; not merely a 'point of view' or an 'interpretation', but a continuous living dialogue between the two as they move over the same historical ground, the same trail of events".

I asked Holmes which of the subjects he has written about were the most difficult to encompass. Holmes slightly side-stepped the question by saying that the biographer had to satisfy two criteria, historical accuracy (the academic community) and story telling (the general public). Holmes brilliantly meets both criteria in his works, and certainly 'The Age of Wonder' brings together the two cultures of science and arts. Holmes said that the science of the Romantic period was sufficiently clear and also well written for people like himself to understand. He is a firm advocate of making science accessible, both to school children and to the general public. Returning to the difficult biography, he notes in 'Footsteps' that he found writing about the French writer Nerval particularly difficult, and in the end the manuscript was never published

Holmes said "the kind of story that emerges depends on the material you have". Thus a subject like Coleridge is wonderful as there are so many surviving journals and letters. The Coleridge Archive for example contains 60 notebooks. Holmes is also very keen in following in the "footsteps" of his subject wherever possible, which he did for Stevenson and Shelley in particular. Holmes said biography becomes "a kind of pursuit, a tracking of the physical trail of someone's path through the past, a following of footsteps. You would never catch them ... but maybe, if you were lucky, you might write about the pursuit of that fleeting figure in such a way as to bring it alive in the present".

Holmes is married to the novelist Rose Tremain and they live in London and just outside Norwich. They actually met while attending the 1992 Adelaide Festival, so Australia brought them together. They follow in the footsteps of Michael Holroyd and Margaret Drabble in a union of novelist and biographer. He refutes the comment that is generally made that "two writers living together is absolutely awful". In fact he says it is quite the reverse. Such comments probably arose earlier from the relationship of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes let alone the Fitzgeralds.

Tremain has written "I find it hard to imagine how I could have lived with a non-writer". Holmes acknowledges the beneficial impact of their relationship on his writing, although he says it is easier for him to comment on the final drafts of her short stories than for her on the blockbuster manuscripts which he tends to produce.

Their work habits have been well publicised by the British press. Holmes tells me they have a late breakfast around 10am, both then disappear to their respective writing studies and remeet for a first drink around 8pm. Tremain has said, "I usually stop work at 7.30pm and go to the kitchen (I find cooking a wonderful antidote to sitting at your desk) ... Richard comes staggering in at 8pm with a blasted look and we're both a bit speechless for the first hour. With the second drink we begin to unthaw".

Holmes, a charming and erudite speaker, said that he was enjoying Canberra as its bicycle friendly layout allowed him to explore. while his love of ballooning was to be satisfied by an early morning flight the next day. No doubt his lectures soared to literary heights across Australia.

Luke Slattery's interesting article on Richard Holmes in the Australian September 10 is here..

While Darleen Bungey about Holmes and the joys of science, romance and red socks is here..

Nee l Mukherjee presents the UK summer's best graphic novels

The 10 most shameless celebrity publicity stunts

Editor of Heat magazine, Mark Frith lists some of the gamest attempts to get his attention, in the UK Times. He begins with Liz Hurley, whom he says is "the original and the best! Liz Hurley turns up to the Four Weddings And A Funeral premiere in a dress held together (but only just) by safety pins. That morning she was a complete unknown. The next day she was the most famous person in Britain. That, my friends, is how you do it".

Palin Throws the Book at Librarian of Congress in a future vision

The editors of Shelf Awareness bring us "a creepy flash forward" to January 21, 2009.

"Flash forward to January 21, 2009 . . . In her first official act, Vice President Sarah Palin has asked for the resignation of Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. After a little distraction as Dick Cheney's staff received new business cards and stationery reflecting their transition to Palin's staff, the Vice President's Office issued the following statement this morning over Palin's signature:

"President McCain and I came to the nation's capital with a mandate for change, and I am pleased to begin that process right in the heart of Washington. When I took that oath or whatever yesterday, I looked over at the Library of Congress building and immediately had several questions.

"First, what is it with all the books? Isn't it enough to have our Declaration of Independence on display at the National Archives? Luckily the Archives have room for the upcoming Alaskan Declaration of Independence.

"Second, aren't books basically elitist? Most real Americans are too busy to read. So let's clear the books out and make use of this prime bit of real estate.

"We can begin with test bores that will quickly show whether there are natural resources beneath the Library that could be extracted for the benefit of all Americans. If that doesn't pan out, I believe that with some outside-the-Washington-box thinking we can come up with some cool adaptations for what's left of the building.

"That big room with the dome would make an ideal ice rink, and there's plenty of space elsewhere for a shooting range. Part of the building ought to be converted to a hotel, which would be a much more convenient place for my successors as mayor and governor to stay when they come to Washington to seek even more federal earmarks for Alaska. I know from experience that it can be like an Ironman race going from the hotel to K Street to the Capitol to fancy restaurants and back - and not a mooseburger in sight!

"On the way to the Inauguration Ball, I called Mr. Billington to ask that he implement these ideas. He did not agree to them. This led me to do a Google search on him. That thorough vetting process has resulted in shocking revelations about the Librarian. Among the issues:"Why did the Librarian write so many books about Russia? I know Russia: I've seen it from across the Bering Strait and believe me there's not much going on."Why has he helped bring so many 'scholars' from Russia to study here?"He has held this job 21 years. In my book, 21 months in one position is more than enough.

"What and why is the National Book Festival? Sure it was supported by the last First Lady, but she represented an administration we Republicans are happy to have sent packing yesterday. Why not a National Snowmobile Festival?"

Australian Anthony Trollope autograph letter for sale

Leading Australian antiquarian bookseller, Hordern House, are offering for sale, at $2875, a letter from Anthony Trollope, dated 26 November 1871. In this Trollope politely refuses an invitation to whist during his visit to Sydney in 1871. Hordern House comment "it is rare to see a letter from Trollope's Australian stay on the market, although he was a prolific correspondent.

The entry for the ms states "Together with his wife Frances, Trollope sailed for the antipodes in 1871 to visit their son Frederick, who had settled on a sheep station near Grenfell. The novelist evidently enjoyed the time he spent in the colonies, and travelled extensively. He wrote a great deal during his year-long visit, most famously his Australia and New Zealand (1873), but also drew directly on his experiences for two novels, Harry Heathcote of Gangoil (1874) and John Caldigate (1879).

The note reads: 'My wife has made an engagement for me on Monday evening (much less to my taste than your offer) which will preclude me from joining your whist table tomorrow. I did not answer your note sooner, knowing that it would make no difference in your engagements, and not being quite sure as to what I might be bound to do. Very faithfully yours Anthony Trollope.'

As this implies, whist was a passion of Trollope's, and he deeply felt the lack of available players during his Australian tour. A note printed in his Australia and New Zealand attests to what anguish the refusal must have cost him: 'I did endeavour to institute a whist table, but I found that my friends, who were wonderfully good in regard to the age and points of a sheep, and who could tell to the fraction of a penny what the wool of each was worth by the pound, could never be got to remember the highest card of the suit. I should not have minded that,' continued Trollope, 'had they not so manifestly despised me for regarding such knowledge as important".

Bloomsbury unveils academic imprint

The scholarly publishing world is an interesting one as online opportunities continue to shake-up traditional patterns. Nowhere is this needed more than in the field of academic publishing.

The major UK firm, Bloomsbury, the publisher of J K Rowling, is, according to the UK Bookseller, "making a bold move into academic publishing with the launch of an "on demand" imprint that will publish titles online for free. Bloomsbury Academic will be run by publisher Frances Pinter, making a return to UK publishing, with Jonathan Glasspool m.d.

The imprint will use Creative Commons licences to allow non-commercial use of all its titles on publication. Pinter described it as "a major commitment to spreading knowledge more easily throughout the world, with a sustainable business model".

She said it was the first time a major publishing company had devoted a whole imprint to this model. "We think it will work for certain kinds of books: it will promote our titles, which will be known because the students will have easy access to them in a digital form, and we will be relying on the institutional market and library sales." Titles will be sold as books using short-run technologies and print-on-demand.

The model will also allow Bloomsbury to bring titles swiftly to publication by side-stepping long production and promotion cycles. The list will concentrate on monographs rather than reference titles. Bloomsbury Academic will initially cover humanities and social science titles, building thematic lists on "pressing global issues." Editors are currently being hired, and the first titles will be published in summer 2009, with a total of 50 anticipated by the end of 2009".

Don't get too depressed about the state of book publishing

The UK Bookseller states that "many argue that books are counter-recessionary, being relatively inexpensive and providing lasting pleasure. This is true, but haven't we been losing ground to television, video games and the internet even during the good times?

More importantly, have recessions in recent memory been on the scale predicted for the downturn to come? It seems hard to believe consumers will still be buying books regularly if winter fuel bills rise by 20-30%. True, book buyers are relatively affluent, but food and petrol prices and credit repayments are putting pressure on everyone.

In the Great Depression, which started in 1929, US publishers were slaughtered when sales dropped from $182m to $82m in four years. Nearly 40% of publishers closed. Obviously, booksellers were hit hard too.

In Japan, the book industry has been in contraction since 1996, with sales falling by 15%. It is clear that books are not recession-proof. Interestingly, sales in Japan did not decline when the housing bubble burst, but later on, during the country's economic decline-so perhaps we will be last into the recession and last out.

A final thing to consider is that the world economy is in bad shape and a third of all UK publisher revenues come from overseas. Could booksellers or publishers survive a 10-20% downturn in business-and how? Do we batten down the hatches or come out with all guns blazing, capitalising on reduced advertising costs and competitor inactivity?

Who is going to be hit the hardest? If Darling's predictions are correct, the larger, more inflexible companies will suffer most as they will find it harder to reduce their cost base. We will see more redundancies and firms in administration, and perhaps a few major publishers or booksellers will tumble. Indeed, if booksellers have been struggling in the longest sustained growth for years, what will happen in a recession?

After every forest fire new seedlings grow. Going back to the Great Depression, we see that a number of small publishers, such as Simon & Schuster (established in 1924), Random House (1927), Scholastic (1925) and Viking (1925) managed to survive and then thrive, and even Penguin was founded at the height of the Depression in 1933. Are they lean enough 80 years later? However it pans out, it is going to be interesting".

Booker short list announced

The usual flurry of commentary has appeared with the announcement of the list below.

Aravind Adiga 'The White Tiger'

Sebastian Barry 'The Secret Scripture'

Amitav Ghosh 'Sea of Poppies'

Linda Grant 'The Clothes of their backs'

Philip Hensher 'The Northern Clemency'

Steve Toltz 'A Fraction of the Whole'

Professor John Sutherland in the UK Guardian believes that "contemporary, urban life is noticeable by its absence from this year's shortlist. Whatever happened to novels about the Hampstead orgasm, or the Great Wen's multidinous slippery poles, or current socio-political turmoil? Whatever, in short, has happened to contemporary London, Dublin, or Edinburgh? Wiped off the literary map, if we credit this shortlist. All provincial, historical, or both".

ODD BOOK TITLE

This week's entry actually covers the Booksellers description of the oddest book title from the last 30 years, a sort of best of the Booker for Odd Book Titles. And the winner is: Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers, Derek Willan's comprehensive record of a sector of Greece's postal routes,Gary Leon Hill's People Who Don't Know They're Dead finished second and John Trimmer's guide to avoiding maritime mishaps, How to Avoid Huge Ships finished third.

Asked why he thought Greek Rural Postmen... appealed to the public more than the other 27 titles on the list, Philip Stone, charts editor at The Bookseller, said: "Although every book on the list is a deserving winner, I am positive that the book benefitted from topicality. The papers are littered with news stories regarding the closure of local, rural post offices across Great Britain, and I sincerely believe that this title provides further proof to the current Government that the British public are passionate about the maintenance and continuation of local mail delivery services. And not just nationally, but internationally".

“I'm afraid it doesn't appear in Australia, although I know it's a hot topic for philatelists” comments Debbie Campbell of the National Library

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Deserved praise is no more than the payment of a debt, but flattery is a present". Dr Johnson