Staunch Book Prize

The Staunch Book Prize is an award given to thriller novels that avoid featuring violence to women. British writer and screenwriter Bridget Lawless founded the prize in 2018. Some writers object to the premise of the award, referring to it as a "gag order" and accusing it of censorship.[1]

## Background

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> But we are concerned about the way that women are depicted as the victims of extreme torture, rape and murder, graphically described, bloody, terrifying and prolonged, normalised and offered up as entertainment. And guess what, so are lots of people, including readers who reject it by preference, and those working to end violence towards women.

Bridget Lawless[2]

Lawless established the prize in 2018 after she noticed the number of films that used rape as a plot device in the 2017 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award nominees,[2] and was inspired by the Time's Up[3] and Me Too[4] movements, to encourage alternatives to violence-against-women tropes.[5]

The official website describes the criteria as "a novel in the thriller genre in which no woman is beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered."[6] The Staunch Book Prize is open to traditionally published, self-published and not-yet-published works[2] and awards £2,000 (funded by Lawless).[5] The entry fee is £20.[7]

The annual winner is announced on November 25, which is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.[2] The original novel prize was suspended for 2021 and was projected to return in 2022.[8] In 2022, the Staunch Book Prize closed.[9]

## Controversy

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Several writers criticized the Staunch Book Prize. Crime writer Sarah Hilary equated the prize criteria with silencing the voices of domestic violence victims, and called it "not a prize so much as a gagging order".[1] Domestic noir writer Julia Crouch said "what that kind of prize immediately knocks out is the lived experience of millions of women in this country".[10]

In World Literature Today, writer Janet Clark counters the criticism by saying "the prize is one way of drawing attention toward an undeniable trend of using horrific and perverse brutality as cheap plot devices. And it works: people talk about it."[11] Hallie Rubenhold, writing in The Guardian, calls the prize "noble in sentiment", while acknowledging Val McDermid's argument that "acts of misogyny and violence against women are being committed, they need to be written about, and not swept under the carpet."[12]

The first winner of the prize, Jock Serong, says the prize addresses "that laziness that creeps in, the tropes where women and girls are used unthinkingly as default victims in the story."[7] Slate notes that the debate over the prize accomplishes the prize's purpose of drawing attention to the use of violence against women in fiction.[13]

## Winners

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* 2018: Jock Serong for On the Java Ridge[14]
* 2019: Samantha Harvey for The Western Wind[15]
* 2020: Attica Locke for Heaven, My Home[16]

## Shortlist

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Year | Author | Work | Result | Ref

|
|
|
|

2018  | Jock Serong | On the Java Ridge | Won | [17]
Peter Adamson | The Kennedy Moment | Shortlisted
Alison Gaylin | If I Die Tonight | Shortlisted
Anna Porter | The Appraisal | Shortlisted
Khurrum Rahman | East of Hounslow | Shortlisted
Joyce Thompson | Cops & Queens | Shortlisted
2019  | Samantha Harvey | The Western Wind | Won | [18]
Brenda Brooks | Honey: A Novel | Shortlisted
Hannelore Cayre | The Godmother | Shortlisted
Lawrence Osborne | Only to Sleep | Shortlisted
August Thomas | Liar's Candle: A Novel | Shortlisted
2020  | Attica Locke | Heaven, My Home | Won | [19]
Fiona Erskine | The Chemical Reaction | Shortlisted
Aimee Liu | Glorious Boy | Shortlisted
Ottessa Moshfegh | Death in Her Hands | Shortlisted
Jock Serong | The Burning Island | Shortlisted
Paul Vidich | The Coldest Warrior | Shortlisted

## References

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1. ^ a b Flood, Allison (2019-07-05). "Crime writers react with fury to claim their books hinder rape trials". The Guardian. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
2. ^ a b c d Flood, Alison (2018-01-26). "Prize launched for thrillers that avoid sexual violence against women". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
3. ^ "Want to win the Staunch Prize? Write a thriller where no woman is sexually exploited, raped or murdered". CBC. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
4. ^ Lau, Evelyn (February 2018). "Staunch Book Prize: a reward for the best thriller that doesn't use women as victims". The National (Abu Dhabi). ProQuest 1994364579.
5. ^ a b Ziv, Stav (February 23, 2018). "Thrillers Where Women Aren't Beaten, Stalked, Raped or Murdered Are Eligible for New Book Prize". Newsweek. Vol. 170, no. 8\. ProQuest 2007407511.
6. ^ "About Staunch Book Prize". Staunch Book Prize.
7. ^ a b Lyons, Gila (July 2019). "Prize for Thrillers Sparks Debate". Poets & Writers. Vol. 47, no. 4\. p. 16\. ProQuest 2007407511.
8. ^ Wood, Heloise (2021-11-01). "Staunch Prize shortlists for flash fiction and short stories revealed". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
9. ^ "Staunch Book Prize". Staunch Book Prize. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022.
10. ^ "Staunch Book Prize: Should writers ditch female victims?". BBC News. 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
11. ^ Clark, Janet (November 2018). "The Staunch Book Prize". World Literature Today. 92 (6): 10–12. doi:10.1353/wlt.2018.0078. ProQuest 2212659427.
12. ^ Rubenhold, Hallie (April 3, 2019). "From Jack the Ripper to Ted Bundy, why are dead women's bodies still being used as entertainment?". The Guardian. p. 6\. ProQuest 2202651755.
13. ^ Martinelli, Marissa (2019-07-05). "Why an Award for Books Without Violence Against Women Is So Controversial". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
14. ^ "Award for thriller without violence against women goes to Jock Serong". the Guardian. 2018-11-26. Retrieved 2020-11-06.
15. ^ "Samantha Harvey wins the 2019 Staunch Book Prize". The Times of India. November 30, 2019. ProQuest 2243315223.
16. ^ "2020 Shortlist". Staunch Book Prize. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
17. ^ "2018 – Staunch Book Prize". Retrieved 2024-09-17.
18. ^ "2019 Shortlist – Staunch Book Prize". Retrieved 2024-09-17.
19. ^ "2020 Shortlist – Staunch Book Prize". Retrieved 2024-09-17.