Waitress Wins Whitbread Book Award

[teknofriend]

LONDON - A South African-born waitress whose first novel was published after she entered a writing competition run by a TV station has been shortlisted for the prestigious Whitbread Book Awards. Salman Rushdie and Nick Hornby were also nominated. Rachel Zadok, 33, was a finalist in the first novel category for "Gem Squash Tokoloshe," about a young girl growing up in South Africa when apartheid was at its height, organizers said Wednesday.

Zadok, who grew up in Johannesburg but now works in London as a waitress, entered a writing competition run by Channel 4 television last year. Although she did not win, she was offered a book contract by publisher Pan Macmillan. The judges called "Gem Squash Tokoloshe" a "powerful evocation of a child's-eye view of rural South Africa."

"Rachel Zadok sets the private drama of a collapsing household against the backdrop of a changing nation and creates a tangible atmosphere of menace," they said. The first novel shortlist also includes "The Harmony Silk Factory," set in Tash Aw's native Malaysia in the 1930s and 1940s, and "26a," part fairy tale, part nightmare about twins and the tragedy of separation, by former dancer Diana Evans.

The fourth book in the category, Peter Hobbs' "The Short Day Dying," dramatizes the struggle of an individual to find reason in mortality and the divine. Whitbread prizes are awarded in five categories: novel, first novel, biography, poetry and children's book award. The winner in each group competes for the overall title of Whitbread Book of the Year, which carries a prize of $42,000.

Rushdie has been shortlisted this year in the novel category for "Shalimar the Clown," an epic narrative that moves from California to
Kashmir, France and England, and back to California. Hornby is up for the award for "A Long Way Down," which features a disgraced TV presenter preparing to commit suicide. Two other novelists have been shortlisted in the category: Ali Smith for her first full-length novel, "The Accidental," a portrayal of a 12-year-old girl spending the summer in a holiday home in Norfolk, eastern England, and Christopher Wilson for "The Ballad of Lee Cotton."

Category winners will be announced on Jan. 4 and the overall winner on Jan. 24.

[nuttylove]

Her example should inspire every writer-wannabe waitresses everywhere. More so, every aspiring writer should feel encouraged by her success.

[zypherious]

wow, that's an awesome story.