County authors compete for award (From Witney Gazette)

County authors compete for award

FIVE Oxfordshire authors are in the running for the 2006 Carnegie medal, the UK's most prestigious children's literary award.

Shortlisted: Julia Golding

Feminist Jeanette Winterson, who lives in Minster Lovell, has been nominated for her first children's book, Tanglewreck.

Geraldine McCaughrean, who lives near Wantage, is listed for Cyrano, a reworking of a classic French tale. She is best known for her sequel to Peter Pan.

Ivy, by Abingdon-based Julie Hearn, is a historical romance set in the London of the pre-Raphaelites, while Meg Rosoff, whose first novel How I Live Now, was set in her former home at Water Eaton, has been nominated for her follow-up, Just In Case.

Julia Golding, a former Oxfam campaigner, is in the running for Secret of the Sirens, part of a fantasy quartet, Companions. She has already been shortlisted for a Nestle prize for the second book in her historical-theatrical series, Cat Royal.

Past Carnegie winners include Arthur Ransome, Noel Streatfeild and Oxford author Philip Pullman.

The 38-strong list will now be whittled down to a shortlist by a panel of judges.

The shortlist will be announced in April and the winner in June.