It looks like it’s not too late to cast your vote for the world’s oddest book title, which will be awarded the Diagram Prize by The Bookseller, a British trade magazine. The winner will be announced March 28, with the spotter of the winning book receiving a magnum of champagne. The authors and publishers “benefit from the publicity, prestige and sales boost that always accompanies the Diagram Prize.”
On the site, Horace Bent (there’s an appropriate name, don’t you think?), custodian of the Diagram Prize, says, “I confess: I have been anxious that as publishing becomes ever more corporate, the trade’s quirky charms are being squeezed out…But happily, my fears have been proved unfounded: oddity lives on.”
Which would you vote for?
“I Was Tortured by the Pygmy Love Queen,” by Jasper McCutcheon
“How to Write a How to Write Book,” by Brian Piddock
“Are Women Human? And Other International Dialogues,” by Catharine A. MacKinnon
“Cheese Problems Solved,” edited by P.L.H. McSweeney
“If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs,” by “Big Boom”
“People Who Mattered in Southend and Beyond: From King Canute to Doctor Feelgood,” by Dee Gordon.
Thanks to friend and fellow writer Gloria Hildebrandt for pointing me to this quirky competition!
Oh, thanks, Sue, and I would have to thank Emily Sinkins of the Canadian Bookseller Association who reported on this contest in her newsletter.
I’ve seen reference to it in a few other places, too! And in case you’re wondering, “If You Want Closure…” is winning the site’s reader poll at 34% of votes. I vote for “Cheese Problems” myself. Who knew cheese had problems?