At Comedy Women In Print awards

Ruth Jones, Posy Simmonds and Nina Stibbe have all been honoured at this year’s Comedy Women In Print Awards.

Gavin & Stacey co-creator Jones was named Witty Woman Of The Year Award, after her latest novel, Us Three, was published earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the third volume of Stibbe’s semi-autobiographical trilogy, Reasons to be Cheerful, was named the funniest published novel of the year.

Fellow author Marian Keyes chaired  the judges in this category and said of their winner: ‘She has an instinctive comedic touch. 

‘She  has that extraordinary gift, which is far harder than it looks, of assembling words according to some  magical formula, to make a sentence funny. She is a master of bathos, and of juxtaposing two  unlikely sentiments in a way to make you howl with laughter.’

This was the first year the prizes had a category for graphic novel, which was shared by Posy Simmonds for her book Cassandra Darke and Danny Noble for Was It... Too Much For You. 

Janet Ellis, who chaired this panel, said: ‘The judges chose two first prize winners because it became obvious that - far from being a source of argument - both of these books had the full approval and downright love of all the judges. To place one above the other would be against the spirit of this provocative, punchy and supremely supportive prize.’

And Helen Lederer, who established the awards last year, said the books offered ‘the perfect contrast: Simmonds’ Cassandra Darke is excellent in detail and wryness, while Noble’s Was it... Too Much For You excelled in being bold and rudely out there’.

The Unpublished Comic Novel prize was awarded to improv performer Faye Brann for Tinker, Tailor, Schoolmum, Spy; with stand-up Zahra Barri’s The Bird In The River  and screenwriter Janey Preger’s The Lady's Companion  named runners-up. 

The socially distanced prize ceremony was hosted from Lederer’s garden last night with guests including Jilly Cooper, Mary Berry, Maureen Lipman, Emma Kennedy and Tony Slattery, who ‘handed round the canapes’.

Published: 15 Sep 2020