'The Iceberg' by Marion Coutts wins the Wellcome Book Prize 2015
Marion Coutts has been awarded the Wellcome Book Prize 2015 for 'The Iceberg', her memoir on art, work, death and language, published by Atlantic Books. The announcement was made by acclaimed author and Chair of Judges, Bill Bryson, at a special ceremony held on Wednesday 29 April, in Wellcome Collection's new Reading Room.
Worth £30,000, the Wellcome Book Prize celebrates the best new books that engage with some aspect of medicine, health or illness, showcasing the breadth and depth of our encounters with medicine through exceptional works of fiction and non-fiction.
'The Iceberg' is an exploration of the impact of death in real time, a sustained act of looking that only ends when life does. In 2008 the art critic Tom Lubbock was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The tumour was located in the area controlling speech and language, and would eventually rob him of the ability to speak. He died early in 2011. Marion Coutts was his wife.
In short bursts of beautiful, textured prose, Coutts describes the eighteen months leading up to her partner's death. The book – an account of a family unit, man, woman, young child, under assault, and how the three of them fought to keep it intact – has so far been shortlisted for Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, the Costa Biography Award, and the Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize.
Announcing the winner, Chair of Judges Bill Bryson said: "Highlighting the importance of literature in exploring the human experience within medicine, the Wellcome Book Prize 2015 has spotlighted a pleasingly diverse array of subjects and genres. From an extremely strong shortlist of books that blend exquisite writing with scientific rigour and personal experience, 'The Iceberg' stood out.
"Marion Coutts’s account of living with her husband’s illness and death is wise, moving and beautifully constructed. Reading it, you have the sense of something truly unique being brought into the world – it stays with you for a long time after."
Simon Chaplin, Director of Culture and Society at the Wellcome Trust, said: "I am delighted that Marion Coutts has taken the prize this year – this is an immensely powerful book, written with astonishing candour and pulsing with raw emotion. 'The Iceberg' shines a burning light on the devastating impact of illness and loss on those who surround and support someone in decline, while simultaneously celebrating the powerful bonds of family and love. It is tremendously difficult to read, but impossible not to become absorbed."
Marion Coutts is an artist and writer. She wrote the introduction to Tom Lubbock's memoir 'Until Further Notice, I am Alive', published by Granta in 2012. She is a Lecturer in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College and lives in London with her son.
The Wellcome Book Prize 2015 was judged by a panel comprising: internationally acclaimed author and Chair of Judges Bill Bryson; Prof. Uta Frith DBE, Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Development at UCL; bestselling author Mark Haddon; BBC presenter Razia Iqbal; and barrister and broadcaster Baroness Helena Kennedy QC.
Previous winners of the Wellcome Book Prize have been Andrew Solomon for 'Far From the Tree: Parents, children and the search for identity' in 2014, Thomas Wright for 'Circulation' in 2012, Alice LaPlante for 'Turn of Mind' in 2011, Rebecca Skloot for 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' in 2010, and Andrea Gillies for 'Keeper: Living with Nancy – A Journey into Alzheimer’s' in 2009.
Relaunched in 2014 with the strapline 'Books for the incurably curious', the Prize is open to both fiction and non-fiction titles which have been published in the UK during the Prize year.
The Wellcome Book Prize 2015 shortlisted titles included:
'The Iceberg' by Marion Coutts (Atlantic)
'Do No Harm' by Henry Marsh (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
'Bodies of Light' by Sarah Moss (Granta)
'The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being' by Alice Roberts (Heron)
'My Age of Anxiety' by Scott Stossel (Windmill Books)
'All My Puny Sorrows' by Miriam Toews (Faber)
About Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson is a best-selling author whose books have sold more than 16 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages. His science book 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' won the 2004 Aventis Prize of the Royal Society and the Descartes Prize, the European Union’s highest literary award. His other books include 'Notes from a Small Island', 'A Walk in the Woods', 'Down Under', 'The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid', 'At Home: A Short History of Private Life', 'One Summer: America, 1927', and the biography 'Shakespeare: The World as Stage'.He was editor of the Royal Society’s 350th anniversary book, 'Seeing Further'. Before becoming a full-time freelance writer, he worked as a journalist, principally on 'The Times', and he was one of the founding journalists on 'The Independent'. He was born in the American Mid-West, but has spent most of his adult life in England.
About Uta Frith DBE
Uta Frith DBE is Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Development at UCL and Visiting Professor at Aarhus University. She is known for her pioneering work on autism and dyslexia. She has contributed some of the major theories explaining some paradoxical features of these conditions and has published numerous scientific articles and books. She is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the Royal Society. One of her current interests is to promote women in science and another is science communication, and in particular, demystifying findings from cognitive neuroscience. She believes that the study of brain and mind will lead to big discoveries in the 21st century and will lead to a better understanding of human nature.
About Mark Haddon
Mark Haddon is the author of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time', which was a bestseller around the world. It won more than seventeen literary awards, including the Whitbread Book of the Year Award. He has written drama for radio and television for which he won two BAFTAs. His play 'Polar Bears' was produced by the Donmar Warehouse in 2007. His latest novel is 'The Red House'.
About Razia Iqbal
Razia Iqbal is a BBC presenter. She is one of the main presenters of 'Newshour', the BBC World Service's flagship daily current affairs programme. She also presents 'Talking Books' on BBC World TV and 'Front Row' on Radio 4. She was the BBC's Arts Correspondent for more than a decade, and over a 25-year career at the BBC has worked as a correspondent in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, as well as a political correspondent, and a Special Correspondent for the six and ten o'clock news on BBC1.
About Baroness Helena Kennedy QC
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC is a barrister, broadcaster, and member of the House of Lords.She is an expert in human rights law, civil liberties and constitutional issues and has received many honours for her work. Current chair of Justice, the British arm of the International Commission of Jurists, she was the Chair of the British Council and Chair of the Human Genetics Commission. She recently produced a report for the Equality and Human Rights Commission on Human Trafficking in Scotland and was a member of the Government Commission on a British Bill of Rights. A Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, she is also the Co-Chair of the International Bar Association's Institute of Human Rights. She is Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford.
About Wellcome Collection
Wellcome Collection is the free visitor destination for the incurably curious. Located at 183 Euston Road, London, it explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. The venue offers visitors contemporary and historic exhibitions and collections, lively public events, the world-renowned Wellcome Library, a café, shop, restaurant and conference facilities as well as publications, tours, international and digital projects.
Wellcome Collection is part of the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation dedicated to improving health. The Wellcome Trust provides more than £700 million a year to support bright minds in science, the humanities and the social sciences, as well as education, public engagement and the application of research to medicine.