Martyn Bedford - Writer

Warmest congratulations to Chris d’Lacey, whose novel A Dark Inheritance won the 2015 James Reckitt Hull Book Award this afternoon. My novel, Never Ending, was among the runners up when the votes were counted at the Freedom Centre, Hull, in a hugely enjoyable day-long event attended by more than 100 Key Stage 3 students from ten participating schools across the city. It was a pleasure to meet and work with Chris and two of the other shortlisted authors – Sam Angus and Jeff Norton – as well as the excellent MC, Chelsey Flood, who won last year with Infinite Sky. Unfortunately the fifth shortlistee, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, was unable to attend. The final event, indeed the whole award, was brilliantly organised by Tracey Acum and her team at Hull Libraries. Having also been a runner up in 2012 for Flip, I’ll just have to hope it’s third-time lucky in Hull with my next young-adult novel!