The Portico Prize, founded in 1985, is awarded biennially for a book published within the two closing dates (currently 31st August 2008 and 31st August 2010), of general interest and literary merit and from this year set wholly or mainly in the Northern counties of England. Previously books were required to be set in the North West of England only.

In 2008 we also had a Shadow Reading Group reading a selection of the entries for discussion and review in the Library. We are looking to develope this further in the future, as well as links with the Manchester Literature Festival.

The complementary and lively panel of judges for 2008 were Mike Harding, writer, photographer and musician amongst other attributes; Paul Magrs, award-winning young and adult fiction author and Senior Lecturer in creative writing; Libby Tempest, Cultural Services Manager for Manchester Libraries and Regional Manager for the National Year of Reading events.

The judges announced an two winners from each of the previously released Fiction and Non-Fiction shortlists. Each were presented with a cheque for £4,000 and will also recieve a specially bound copy of their winning book.

The Prizes were presented at a prestigious dinner in the Great Hall of Manchester's splendid Town Hall on 13th November. This event is a highlight of the region's literary calendar with guest speakers and judges which have included Ludovic Kennedy, Dora Bryan, Bill Tidy, Alan Garner, Michael Schmidt, Tony Warren, Martin Bell and Kate Adie. This year's guest speaker was Michael Schmidt, Professor of Poetry at Glasgow University and co-director of Manchester's Carcanet Press.

Past sponsors have included Granada, Manchester Evening News, The Royal Bank of Scotland and The Zochonis Charitable Trust. This year we are most grateful to the Zochonis Charitable Trust and Lane-Smith Shindler, Solicitors · Trust & Estate Practitioners for their generous sponsorship of the event and prize.

For details of the 2008 winners click here.