The shortlist for the 2019 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature has been announced. 32 entries were submitted this year from Great Britain, Canada, Italy, New Zealand and the USA.
The Boardman Tasker Award was established in 1983 to commemorate the lives of Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker – outstanding mountaineers and accomplished authors – who disappeared together high on Everest in 1982. The £3,000 prize is presented annually to the author or co-authors of an original work that has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature.
The Award will be presented at The Boardman Tasker Shortlisted Authors event at the Kendal Mountain Festival on Friday November 15th 2019.
The 2019 Judges are: Roger Hubank (Chair), Katie Ives and Tony Shaw.
The following six books were chosen for this year's shortlist:
Mick Fowler, No Easy Way - Vertebrate Publishing
'A third volume of memoirs of mountaineering in the greater ranges, written in Fowler's inimitable style; self-deprecating, understated, never taking himself too seriously while at the same time conveying that what he is engaged in is very serious indeed.'
Kate Harris, Lands of Lost Borders - Dey Street Books
'A gripping account of an epic journey, fraught with difficulties and dangers, made by the writer and her partner following the old Silk Road through many different countries.'
Geoff Powter, Inner Ranges - Rocky Mountain Books
'A wide-ranging anthology of essays and articles by the prize-winning Canadian climber and journalist reflecting his life-long affair with mountains and mountain people.'
David Smart, Paul Preuss - Rocky Mountain Books
'An account of the life and death of the influential Austrian climber who soloed many first ascents In the Eastern Alps scorning artificial aids in preference for an ethically pure Alpine style.'
Jeff Smoot, Hangdog Days - Mountaineers Books
'An engaging account of the changes that took place in American rock climbing in the '70s and '80s told with great verve, through the stories of some fascinating characters from died-in-the-wool bottom-up traditionalists to top-down rap-bolters.'
David Wilson, The Equilibrium Line - The Poetry Business
''Poems inspired by climbing.' An outstanding second collection by the poet and novelist examining ambition, failure, risk and where to draw the line in settings ranging from the gritstone crags to the Alps and further afield.'
Read more on the Boardman Tasker website.
Comments
A book about Paul Preuss? One of the predecessors of modern free climbing and alpinism? How did I miss that one? The Mauerhakenstreit (The Piton Dispute) is still one very nice discussion on climbing style :)
Paul Preuss - one of the finest climbers who ever lived. An eternal inspiration to us all.
Mick