For the first time, the 2016 award was chronicled by an official shadow judging panel made up of some of the country’s leading book bloggers
The 2016 Shadow Panel read and discussed the four books shortlisted by the Judges – and Dan Dalton, Books Editor at Buzzfeed, chaired the Shadow Panel.
Eric Karl Anderson is an American-born writer who has lived in London for over a decade and runs the book blog www.LonesomeReader.com. Previously a judge of the Lambda Literary Awards and the 2015 Green Carnation Prize, he’s author of the novel ENOUGH which won the Pearl Street Publishing First Book Prize. Eric reviews new publications on the academic site Bearing Witness: Joyce Carol Oates Studies. He’s also keen on baking and watching disaster movies. Find him on Twitter @LonesomeReader, Instagram, Facebook, GoodReads and Youtube.
Kim Forrester is a journalist who has been blogging about books for more than a decade – read her book blog at readingmattersblog.com. She specialises in literary fiction from Australia and Ireland, but also reads books in translation, true crime, crime fiction and narrative non-fiction. She has shadowed Canada’s prestigious Giller Prize since 2011. Find her on Twitter @kimbofo and Facebook
Naomi Frisby runs the literary book blog The Writes of Woman, a celebration of female writers and their work. She was shortlisted for The White Review Short Story Prize 2016 and has been a guest editor for Fiction Uncovered. She’s currently working towards a PhD in Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University. Find her on Twitter @Frizbot
Charlie Place lives in Southampton where she’s busy starting up a coffee shop literary scene. She writes about books at The Worm Hole and likes to spend sunny days roaming about ruined castles whenever possible. You can find her on Twitter @carnelianvalley
Simon Savidge is the man behind Savidge Reads. Simon is also co-founder and Honorary Director of The Green Carnation Prize (for LGBT writing) now in association with Foyles. In 2013 he also became one of the judges on the inaugural panel of The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize and was the inaugural Guest Editor for Fiction Uncovered and was then one of the judges for Fiction Uncovered 2015. He is also one of the voices of The Readers Podcast, and goes it alone sporadically with You Wrote The Book a podcast in conversation with authors. He has recently joined Booktube here, and you can find him on Twitter @SavidgeReads
Dan Dalton is a staff writer at BuzzFeed, where he covers books and pop culture. A graduate of the University of Leeds, he was born and raised in Yorkshire, and currently lives in London. He is chairing the 2016 Shadow Panel. You can find him on Twitter @wordsbydan.
