There’s something a bit unnecessary about life-time achievement awards, or am I the only one who thinks that? A few weeks ago, Bruce Forsyth picked up a special recognition gong at the National Television Awards, which seemed to do nothing but more firmly cement to his ‘national treasure’ tag.

Great actors and writers don’t always get the recognition they deserve, so occasionally there is a life-time recognition award of which I approve. For example, the announcement that the Man Booker Prize were belatedly honouring Dame Beryl Bainbridge, the ‘Booker Bridesmaid’, caught my eye. Shortlisted five times, more than any other author, Bainbridge never won the prize. I vividly remember reading Bainbridge’s Young Adolf many years ago while studying Nazi Germany under an awe-inspiring History teacher (I could digress, but the legendary Mrs Mayne deserves more than a few scanty blog column inches), but now I discover that this wasn’t one of the novels for which she was Booker nominated, so I have some reading to make up. Where to start? Decisions, decisions…

Lesley-Anne Crooks, Sales & Digital Manager