Jail inmates barred from collecting reading prize

A reading club of ten inmates who meet each week in the library of High Down prison in Surrey has won Britain's most prestigious reading group prize - but they will not be able to claim their reward, it was announced today.

The High Down Prison Reading Group, which was founded by Kay Hadwick, the prison's librarian, in 2001, won this year's Penguin / Orange Reading Group Prize ahead of entrants from across the country. But, for obvious reasons, they will not be able to enjoy the trip to the Edinburgh International Book Festival, which was the top prize in the competition.

Instead, the runners up, The Port Ellen Book Group, which is made up of nine women from the tiny Scottish island of Islay, will travel to Edinburgh to meet a celebrity panel and a Penguin author.

Today, Catherine Lockerbie, director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, said that it would be a "real pleasure" to welcome them to the event, which begins next week, although she regretted that the circumstances of the High Down group would keep them firmly in their library.

"We love to pay specific tribute to particular reading groups," said Ms Lockerbie. "Obviously there was an ironic twist to the competition this year and I wish the winning group had been able to come."

The High Down group, described as "an inspiration" by Joanna Prior, Publicity Director of Penguin, were given a special prize of a visit from Nick Hornby, the author, and £200 of book vouchers.

"Winning is not really one of our strong points so we are pleased that the judges saw something appealing in our reading group," said one of the group's members, identified as Jamie. "The chance to meet Nick Hornby is incredible, especially for the Arsenal fans amongst us."

According to its winning entry form, the all-male High Down group was founded nearly four years ago and is "non-judgmental" in its approach to reading. Answering the question: "What makes your reading group special?" The group identified its coffee, biscuits and the chance to escape the monotony of life in prison.

"In an environment which is very grey at the best of times," the members wrote, "the reading group offers a chink of light though which members can escape the daily irritations of prison life, relax with a cup of coffee and some nice chocolate biscuits in the soothing atmosphere of the library, and talk about something other than prison-related topics."

One of the prisoners wrote a poem about the group's meetings, calling them: "a breath of fresh air / A monthly release when close to despair / A freewheeling forum for expression of thought / Analysis, criticism, witty retorts".

The group mentioned Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind as a recent favourite, as well as visits from novelists Fay Weldon, Philip Pullman, Minette Walters and poet Benjamin Zephaniah, all of whom were invited to the prison by the club.

Ms Hadwick, the High Down librarian who founded the group, said that despite strong feelings, differences of literary opinion in the group never escalated beyond polite disagreement.

"There is too much confrontation elsewhere in the prison," she said. "The reading group offers members a relaxed forum to discuss books and enables prisoners to escape the daily irritations of prison life."

Professor Jenny Hartley, one of the judges of the competition and the author of Reading Groups, which studied the rise of reading circles in the UK, which are now thought to have around 50,000 members, said the High Down group challenged people's preconceptions about reading clubs.

"This year’s shortlist overturns the popular pre-conceptions that reading groups are a relatively recent phenomenon dominated by women," she said.

"From inner city to inner Hebrides - and inside prison too - this year’s shortlist is a great showcase for what reading groups do best: outward going, socially inclusive, the small scale with the wide focus."