Lovegrove, Tobler and Aslam up for Hospital Club h 100 Awards

JoJo Moyes, Kit de Waal and Reni Eddo Lodge are some of the authors nominated for the Hospital Club h 100 Awards, alongside Dialogue Books publisher Sharmaine Lovegrove (pictured) and And Other Stories publisher Stefan Tobler.

They are shortlisted in the Publishing and Writing category for “the UK’s most renowned creatives” alongside author Robert McFarlane and illustrator Jackie Morris, nominated for The Lost Words (Hamish Hamilton), which has won various awards and been the subject of numerous crowdfunding campaigns to get it into schools.

Tobler, publisher of And Other Stories, has also scooped a nomination - he recently took the independent press up to Sheffield and founded a Northern Book Award to promote the voices of authors outside of London, as well as contributing to the work of the Northern Fiction Alliance.

Bradford Festival co-founder Syima Aslam earned a nod after the event has grown in stature and size, recently featuring headliners such as musician-writer Kate Bush and novelist Jeanette Winterson, with 500 speakers appearing across more than 400 sessions.

Charco Press founders Samuel McDowell and Carolina Orloff have also been nominated a year after launching the indie publisher which showcases Latin American literature in translation.

Finally Aki Schilz has been nominated for her work to help aspiring writers and publishers. As editorial services manager of The Literary Consultancy, she recently helped establish a two-day course for aspiring publishers which ran in April.

Eddo Lodge's Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Bloomsbury) has scooped a number of prizes including the British Book Awards' Non-Fiction: Narrative Book of the Year award in May. Meanwhile de Waal has worked to make publishing more inclusive including spearheading an anthology of working class writers, Common People, for Unbound and Moyes recently hit the headlings after funding literacy scheme Quick Reads, saving it from closure.

Two writers also feature in the Rising Star category. Welsh musician and poet Jack Jones is shortlisted along with writer and performer Samson Kayo, who has recently written a play for The Soho Theatre.

There are 10 categories for the awards with the public vote running until 26th August via the prize website. The Hospital Club h 100 Awards have run for 10 years and aim to recognise the “most influential and innovative talent across the breadth of the UK’s creative industries”, over the last 12 months. 

The winners will be announced on 10th September and are run with media partner theartsdesk.com, an arts journalism website. The prize ceremony is hosted by comedian Stuart Goldsmith celebrate and two special awards will be announced on the evening: Young Influencer of the Year and the h Foundation Award, given to an individual who has made a significant achievement after coming through one of the foundation’s flagship programs.

The Hospital Club is a private members venue for creative professionals, based in Covent Garden, which opened in 2004.