H is for Hawk wins Costa Book of the Year

Helen Macdonald's lyrical account of training a goshawk in the wake of her father's death has been awarded the £30,000 Costa Book of the Year Award
Part memoir, part nature writing, H is for Hawk sparked a strong reaction in the Costa judges.
Chair of judges Robert Harris said: 'All of the judges felt passionately about this book and its wonderful, muscular, chiselled prose.'
'This is a clever, accomplished piece of writing that everyone will enjoy. It melds a memoir about grief, a biography of TH White and is a wonderful evocation of nature and training a hawk. It’s unique, unforgettable, haunting and a natural book to win this prize.'
'When I wrote it I thought it was a very strange book and I didn't think anyone would read it,' Helen Macdonald told the BBC last night. 'I'm absolutely thrilled and surprised and bemused, and it's wonderful.'
At the same ceremony last night, Zoe Gilbert was announced as the winner of the £3,500 Costa Short Story Award for Award for Fishskin, Hareskin.

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