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The pick of the best books / films / writers of 2005 from this site's regular contributors and other guests
Best Book - �Lunar Park�, by Bret Easton Ellis, was one novel I found very hard to put
down. It links up with American Psycho and is a mad, psychotic book. It is
impossible to summarise. You have to read it and make up your own mind if
you can. Dan Fante�s �Corksucker� is another I enjoyed. It is a collection of short
stories and I love his style of writing, which is full of humour and
insight. He is up there with Bukowski, Hubert Selby Jr and John Fante, but
is his own man with his own angles. It isn�t a dense collection, but well
worth a read. Stewart Home�s �Tainted Love� is another book that interested me. I�ve known
Stewart for years, since the Two Sevens days, so maybe I�m biased, but I
don�t think so. �Tainted Love� has a strong personal element as he has based
the story around his mum, who put him up for adoption as a baby and later
died of a drug overdose in Notting Hill. There are some famous names worked
into the story. Again, a nutty, original novel.
Best Film - My best film was The Ramones documentary, but it appeared on the big screen,
so I am going to go for that. It is interview based, and has a lot of rough
edges, but this works well and the documentary is all about content over
effects. Dee Dee comes across well, but Johnny Ramone impressed me most of
all. He held The Ramones together, against the odds, and while there may
have been personality clashes, there was no moaning about him ripping off
the other members. �Coffee And Cigarettes� was another film that proved
dialogue can lead the way and I really enjoyed the sketches. There is some
great technology around, but I feel that at the moment too many film-makers
are blinded by science.
Writer of 2005 - Hunter S Thompson. Shooting yourself in the head is a vicious way to die,
and while it might seem rock n roll to the press, it is a tragedy for those
who knew him. It is also a waste of a brilliant talent. Thompson was astute
and radical as well as entertaining. His observations weren�t taken as
seriously as they deserved to be, due to his flamboyant Gonzo image, but
that is how the establishment sidelines serious writers. It suited them to
dismiss his prose as drug-fuelled rants, but for me he was a noble,
politicised writer in the tradition of two of my heroes, George Orwell and
Aldous Huxley.
Best Album - �Haunted Cities�, by Transplants. Brilliant. I also liked the latest �Give Em
The Boot� DVD collection of bands. As a Meteors man, I especially enjoyed
�Gargoyles Over Copenhagen� by Nekromantix. Duane Peters� solo album �Gunfight�
was excellent, and the �Babylon�s Burning� (Reconstructed Dub Landscapes) grew
on me the more I listened to the various one-rhythm interpretations. Others
bands who featured heavily in 2005 include Social Distortion, The Distillers
and Johnny Cash. The cassette deck, meanwhile, was reeling to the
full-length Prison House demo. For a punk like me, it is a good time for
music right now, and it is getting better.
Best Gig - Bad Manners at Club Ska in West London. Geno Blue who runs it with Duke Dale
is a friend of mine and he puts on the best skinhead reggae, and has
featured the likes of Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken and Symarip. There was a
football flavour to the night with plenty of Chelsea, QPR and West Ham boys
in attendance. There�s always a great atmosphere at Club Ska and Bad Manners
were outstanding. A big crowd drunk the bars dry and Buster took the stage
in a leopard skin suit. He had been very ill, but was right back on form,
thinned down and responsible for a great night. The love for the man is
touching to see. Buster is a British institution. Club Ska is out in Rayners
Lane so you don�t get any of the trendy wankers and posers who clog up the
West End. It is a proper skinhead venue. Another night I love is London Callin�, run by Barnet, a well-known Chelsea lad. He mixes up the punk styles with punk, rockabilly, glam, psycobilly male and female, old and new. There�s a good crowd of people and some
excellent music. Club Ska and London Callin� are all I need for my live
music.
Best Literary Magazine - I don�t read many to be honest, but Beat Scene interests me. I like reading
about Charles Bukowski and Hubert Selby Jr, who are two of my favourite
authors. There is a lot about the beat scene generally I don�t like, the way
college kids milked the experiences of the working people they bumped into,
but their approach and determination to bypass the mainstream critics and
media was spot on. Ginzburg�s Kaddish is amazing and I like Dharma Bums
especially of Kerouac�s writing, while I have a love/hate feeling towards
William Burroughs. I think his ideas are clever, but morally I feel he was a
rich man exploiting the poor. Beat Scene is full of this stuff.
Best Writing Website - It has to be this one. Sorry not to be more original.
Best Publisher - I don�t know if we will end up the best, but I have started up a publishing
company called London Books with Martin Knight, who is the author of books
such as �Common People�. We didn�t get our first book out this year, but we
have six titles planned for 2006. Whatever happens, I think we will be the
only publishers in Britain doing it purely for fun. We are beyond the profit
motive.
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - Dan Fante. I rate all of his work.
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Poet - I haven�t really looked at the poetry I�m afraid.
Who/what to look out for in 2006 - Personally, the long overdue Prison House album. I have written all the
songs with Leigh Heggerty from The Price and it sounds good on the demo, and
there will hopefully be some Ruts and maybe Lurkers involvement.
Moment of 2005 - It wasn�t a good year for me, so there�s nothing really that stood out.
Person of 2005 - All those working in the NHS.
2005 in 6 Words - A long slog full of worry, sadness, memories.
� John King
Reproduced with permission
Best Book - �What Good Are the Arts?� by John Carey - Surprisingly refreshing and humorous. He prefers literature btw.
Best Film - Nose dive on life's graph of cinema outings but quite liked �A History of Violence� and a Russian film �4� - can't remember where it was but it was ambitious, flawed and compelling.
Writer of 2005 - Can't think at the moment. But towards the toe-end I dipped back into Highsmith and various collections of her short stories. Bloody marvellous some of 'em.
Best Album - Finding an old Dylan Bootleg album I'd innocently appropriated from various house shares. Cracking acoustic version of �Tangled up in Blue�
Best Gig - Pixies at Ally Pally, Black and the Real Deal
Best Writing Website - Yours again, Dan Schneider's (always controversial, brutally honest, great insight into all things that is America)
Best Literary Magazine - Open Wide
Best Publisher - All of 'em, surely?
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - Zsolt Alapi
Who/what to look out for in 2006 - The sky falling on your head or stubbing your toe on the bed looking for a pen in the dark
Moment of 2005 - 10.11.2005 01.15am - The sky lit up and a chopper was hovering overhead. I lit a fag and coughed for the first time for ages.
Person of 2005 - Well anyone who kept on doing what they're doing 'cos it's what they do best - despite the sink getting blocked
2005 in 6 Words - You've done it, now leave it 'n get back to the day job
� Nick Dockerty
Reproduced with permission
Best Book - 'Listening to God' - Joyce Huggett
Best Film - 'Overnight'
Writer of 2005 - C.S. Lewis??
Best Album - Phtisch - 'All My Friends'
Best Gig - Carli and the Heartattacks, Chester Civic
Best Writing Website - The Independant and not for profit i.e. no Arts Council! - Open Wide Magazine
Best Publisher - Canongate
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - The Heidi James
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Poet - Brad Hamlin
Who/what to look out for in 2006 - The second new series of Doctor Who and The Heidi James
Moment of 2005 - The airing of the first new series of Doctor Who
Person of 2005 - Christopher Eccleston and the beautiful Heidi James
2005 in 6 Words - No middle eighth in Doctor Who theme tune, but back in 2006!
� James Quinton
Reproduced with permission
Best Book - Amelie Nothomb - 'The Character of Rain'
Best Film - �The Constant Gardener�
Writer of 2005 - Ali Smith
Best Album - 'Alligator' by The National
Best Gig - Elbow at Edinburgh Usher Hall
Best Writing Website - Laura Hird, of course!
Best Literary Magazine - Chapman
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - Ali Smith
Who/what to look out for in 2006 - Same as usual...armageddon
Moment of 2005 - 6th July
Person of 2005 - Harold Pinter
2005 in 6 Words - Up down up down up down up down up down up down
� Rodge Glass
Reproduced with permission
Best Book - 'The Art of Murder' by Jose Carlos Somoza. I've not been able to read so many books this year outside reviewing or research.
Best Short Story Collection - 'Stillness' by Courtney Angela Brkic
Best Poetry Book - 'Life Mask' by Jackie Kay and 'The Tree House' by Kathleen Jamie, though there were a few good poetry books this year.
Best Film / TV Series - 'Downfall', and the German series 'Heimat 2' which I was asked to review for VideoVista and which I think is the best TV series I've ever seen. Completely gripping. I cannot recommend 'Heimat 2' highly enough. It would definitely be one of my high points of the year.
Best Album - 'Natural' by Celso Fonseca, which came out a couple of years ago though I only caught up with it this year, and 'Aerial' by Kate Bush. I've just heard Fonseca's new album 'Rive Gauche Rio' which is also very good.
Best Small Press - Came across so many I'm not sure I could name only one. I really like the Arabic English language journal Banipal, but Storie, Glimmer Train, Night Train and TriQuarterly were all really good too. On the genre side, an interesting one I stumbled across recently is Simulacrum which is a pdf journal, but generally haven't managed to catch up with as many genre mags this year - hope to remedy this in 2006.
Best Website - The Angry Alien bunny re-enactments of famous films is one of my favourites. Their parodies of 'Scream', 'The Shining', and 'War of the Worlds' being among the best in my opinion. I also like the Whispers of Wickedness forums where everyone is really friendly, and the TTA message boards are usually full of interesting posts or useful information on things that are coming out, submission calls, etc.
Best Showcased Writers - I'll have to pass on this since my reading outside reviewing and research has taken a nosedive. I'm way behind on the showcased work.
Moment of 2005 - the flooding and chaos in New Orleans, and on a more positive note, the sight of same sex couples finally able to marry in Scotland and other parts of the UK.
Who To Watch Out For in 2006 - I'm not even going to try to make a guess on this one. Though I am looking forward to Cibelle's new album which should have come out in 2005. Looks like it's been delayed till 2006.
BR>
� Kara Kellar Bell
Reproduced with permission
Best Book - 'Towelhead' by Alicia Erian
Best Film - 'Batman Begins'
Writer of 2005 - Kevin Macneill
Best Album - 'Takk' by Sigur Ros
Best Gig - Pink Floyd Reunion At Live 8
Best Writing Website - The Seeker
Best Publisher - Chroma
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - Neil Cocker
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Poet - Rodge Glass
Best www.laurahird.com Reviewer - Moira McPartlin
Who/what to look out for in 2006 - 'The Good Death', second novel from Nick Brooks.
Moment of 2005 - George Galloway tearing the US senate apart
Person of 2005 - Alison Goldfrapp
2005 in 6 Words - When we almost made the most powerful people in the world
listen.
� Alan Bissett
Reproduced with permission
Best Book - 'Corksucker' by Dan Fante is right up there. I�ve already gone on about how great it is on this site, so I�ll leave it at that. I also enjoyed Barry Miles recent Bukowski biography.
Best Film - 'Palindromes' by Todd Solondz
Best Album - �Leaders of The Free World� by Elbow was great. �Capture / Release� by The Rakes, too. And Babyshambles album deserves a mention just because it actually got made despite all the chaos. That said, most of the demos and radio session versions of the songs are better than the studio versions.
Best Gig - The Rakes at North 6 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They blew every other band off the stage and really had something special about them.
Best Literary Magazine - Savage Kick is on its second issue now and they have been attracting a really interesting blend of writers. Dan Fante was the big name in issue 1, Doug Stanhope and Joe R Lansdale made issue 2. I have a story in issue 2 and since struck up a correspondence with one of the guys who runs the magazine, and his head is in the right place. He has a very clear vision of what he wants and he doesn�t compromise. As a result the magazine has a really cohesive feel as well as being very beautifully designed. Plus with limited print runs it�s a nice collectable thing to have. So yeah I take my hat off to Savage Kick and urge people to go check it out.
Best Writing Website - The 2 sites I return to again and again are this one, and 3am magazine.
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer -I have particularly enjoyed (in no particular order) Heidi James, Richard Cabut, Zsolt Apati and Neil Cocker.
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Poet - Angela Readman and Debbie Kirk.
Moment of 2005 - My personal moment of the year was signing a contract to get my first novel published. It may seem mercenary to say that, but there it is. On a less personal note the election of Evo Morales in Bolivia and the hopeful resumption of legal Cocoa production is a big �fuck you� to US imperialist and anti-drug efforts.
Who To Watch Out For in 2006 - The legalization of all drugs hard and soft, starting in Europe and then sweeping across the rest of the world like some kind of tsunami of rationality. Well, I can dream. And 'Digging the Vein' a great new book by a very talented young author named Tony O�Neill that is out in Feb in the US and the summer in the UK.
Person of 2005 - When I was in rehab in Los Angeles, mid 2000 a guy I shared a dorm with told me in no uncertain terms that if George Bush Jr won the election it meant that Armageddon was just around the corner. He then produced photocopies of scriptures and excerpts from Nostradamus with highlighted sections that seemed to � in a vague and metaphorical way � corroborate his story. He was a crack fiend and a door guy at an S&M; club in Hollywood. At the time I put it down to the typical drug withdrawal / paranoia state that everyone gets into during their first two weeks in a facility. After all I truly believed that my caseworker was an FBI agent for my first week there. However, since I have watched history unfold I wonder if he may not have been closer to the money that I assumed. So, my person of the year unfortunately is George Bush Jr, who somehow managed to pull it off again. Seeing that people actually voted him in again was a similar feeling to discovering that Father Christmas didn�t exist, or that it was my mother � and not the tooth fairy � who left money under my pillow when I lost my baby teeth. The sheer ugliness and venality of the American political system was exposed as shockingly as if the curtain pulled back not only to reveal that the Wizard of Oz was not real, but that in his place was Gary Glitter busily reaming a 10 year old. It was that kind of ugly. Next year I�m hoping his assassin will get the chance to make my list. I�m saving a space for you, whoever you might be.
� Tony O'Neill
Reproduced with permission
MARION ARNOTT
Best Book - 'The People's Act Of Love' - James Meek
Best Film - 'Downfall'
Writer of 2005 - James Meek
Best Album - Ludovico Einaudi
Best Gig - Rod Stewart
Best Literary Magazine - Crimewave
Best Writing Website - www.laurahird.com
Best Publisher - Canongate
Moment of 2005 - The Olympic bid
Person of 2005 - Alfred Anderson, Great War veteran, died aged 109,after being featured in 'The Last Tommy.'
� Marion Arnott
Reproduced with permission
Best Book - Kitty Fitzgerald�s �Pigtopia�, Tony O�Neill�s �Digging the Vein�, Kevin MacNeil�s �The Stornoway Way�, James Meek�s �The People�s Act of Love�
Best Film - 'All DVD�s I�m afraid. Hardly been to the cinema this year due to increasing audience-phobia - 'Lilya 4 Ever', 'The Woodsman', 'Enduring Love', 'Vera Drake', 'Sideways', 'La Mer', 'Palindromes', 'Blue Remembered Hills' reissue,
Writer of 2005 - Michel Faber � prolific, unique, diverse, inspiring and always full of surprises along with a bloody smashing short story collection,
Best Album - �Sorry for Laughing� � Nouvelle Vague, �Get Behind Me Satan� � White Stripes, Antony and the Johnsons � 'I Am a Bird Now' + played to death this year and previous � Nina Simone � �Finest Hour�, �Tubular Bells� � Mike Oldfield which I only listened to for the first time all the way through after giving it to a friend for Xmas � there�s prog-rock in the old girl yet.
Best TV - Eric Morecambe documentary, �John Peel�s Record Box�, �Wifeswap�, Brigitte Nielsen on �Celebrity Big Brother�, �Artworks Scotland�: Canongate, Madonna � �I�m Going to Tell You a Secret�, Carol Thatcher on �I�m a Celebrity�, the Guinness Rhythm of Life ad, BBC Learning Zone.
Best Literary Magazine - The Savage Kick, Open Wide Magazine, Storie
Best Writing Website - Barcelona Review, Pulp.net, this one for all the great writers and reviewers
Best Publisher - Canongate Books, Leconte (Storie), Granta, Wrecking Ball Press, Banipal, Comma Press
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Story - I loved all the stories I published this year but thought as I�ve asked everyone else to I should bite the bullet and mention a few favourites � Zsolt Alapi�s �Happy Birthday�, Bhupinder D. Mahi�s �My Sister�s Death�, Michael Gardiner�s �The Edinburgh Festival� and Aliya Whitely�s �Caterpillar� amongst dozens of others
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Poem - Same as above but again, amongst all my favourites would be Maria Grech Ganado�s �Men Who Are Not Lovers�, Tony O�Neill�s �Hey Randal� and Angela Readman�s �Sex With the Most Ordinary Man You Ever Want to Meet�
Who/what to look out for in 2006 - Tony O�Neill�s �Digging the Vein�, the next issue of The Savage Kick, my short story collection, �Hope and Other Stories�
Moments of 2005 - Canongate saying they wanted to publish my book of my mum�s letters, �Dear Laura.� Re-Visions symposium in Valletta, Malta. Meeting Marc Goldin and his family in my local pub when they were over from Chicago. Seeing my friend, Rosie Savin�s baby, Johnny Angel for the first time. Picking up the typeset proofs for my new short story collection, �Hope and Other Stories� from the post office.
Person of 2005 - My mum, June Hird, for having a book of her writing commissioned by Canongate Books, 5 years after her death and everyone involved directly and indirectly for their passion, encouragement and bloody-mindedness.
2005 in 12 Words - Good on you mum. I always knew you had it in you.
� Laura Hird
Reproduced with permission
GRAHAM RAE
Best Book - �Thugs And Thieves� by Jackie Gilroy / JG Ballard 'Conversations� (tie)
Best Film - 'Capote'
Writer of 2005 - Jackie Gilroy
Best Album - Screeching Weasel: �My Brain Hurts� (Asian Man Records re-release)
Best Gig - Even in Blackouts, Spider�s Web, Edinburgh, February
Best Writing Website - www.laurahird.com / www.textualities.net (split loyalties)
Best Publisher - Single Cell Press, RE/Search Publications and Hope And Nonthings
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - Iain Bahlaj
What to Look Out For in 2006 - Even in Blackouts European Tour in January/February.
Moment of 2005 - Getting married on a beach in Florida to my lovely wife Ellen.
Person of 2005 - see answer to question directly above.
2005 in 12 Words - Visa, transatlantic relocation, America, Illinois, zombie, Florida, marriage, happiness, nursing home, JG Ballard.
� Graham Rae
Reproduced with permission
ROSANNE RABINOWITZ
Best Book - I�ve never been good at choosing just one of anything, but surely among the best I�ve read this year is 'Mortal Love' by Elizabeth Hand. It is rich, mysterious, sensuous, full of a sense of time and place and the kind of gritty detail that makes the fantastic real. Keep an eye out for an interview with Elizabeth Hand in Interzone sometime this spring! I also liked 'A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian' by Monica Lewycka very much, but I suppose it would be cheating to mention that...
Best Gig - Eliza Carthy and the Ratcatchers at the Bush Theatre, West London. I�ve enjoyed Eliza�s CDs, but she is even more stunning in a live performance.
Best Film - Er� will it be 'Brokeback Mountain', or maybe I can put in a good word for 'Nightwatch', a very ambiguous and funny Russian vampire film? Then, I really can�t remember if I saw 'My Summer of Love' in 2004 or 2005�
Best www.laurahird.com Reviewer - Kara Kellar Bell, especially for her work in getting literary and independent magazines reviewed. The fact she had some nice things to say about my stuff in Midnight Street 4 has nothing to do with it, honest�)
Best Album - 'Gypsy Punks' by Gogol Bordello. I love Balkan and East European folk music, I love punk � and the Gogols do a grand post-Pogues fusion of these two streams. When I was in New York I went to their DJ night at Mehanata (Broadway & Canal Street) and heard some devastating dance music. Serbian brass band techno ska, anyone?
Moment of 2005 - When the fence got pulled down at the G8 summit in Gleneagles.
� Rosanne Rabinowitz
Reproduced with permission
MICHAEL GARDINER
Best Book - 'GB84' by David Peace
Best Film - 'Innocence: Ghost in the Shell 2' dir. Ishii Mamoru
Writer of 2005 - Paul Virilio
Best Album - Boards of Canada - 'The Campfire Headphase'
Best Gig - de de mouse, October, Tokyo
Best Literary Magazine - The Scorpion
Best Writing Website - This one
Best Publisher - Polygon
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - Ali Smith
What to Look Out For in 2006 - Spots of sanity in US foreign policy / spontaneous shows of mutual affection worldwide
Moment of 2005 - 22nd Dec, 9.15 p.m.
Person of 2005 - Still John Peel, d. 2004
2005 in 12 Words - ichigatsu nigatsu sangatsu shigatsu gogatsu rokugatsu shichigatsu hachigatsu kugatsu jugatsu juichijgatsu
junigatsu
� Michael Gardiner
Reproduced with permission
HEIDI JAMES
Best Book - 'White' by Marie Darrieusecq
Best Film - 'Old Boy'
Writer of 2005 - Marie Darrieusecq
Best Album - I am so backward, I am still trawling the back catalogues....
Best Gig - John Spencer Blues Explosion plays Orange
Best Literary Magazine - Zembla, Social Disease, Open Wide
Best Writing Website - Laura Hird
Best Publisher - Social Disease
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - Tony O'Neill
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Poet - Tony O'Neill
Best www.laurahird.com Reviewer - Dan Provost
What to Look Out For in 2006 - Tony O'Neil, James Quinton and Laura Hird's novel
Moment of 2005 - A kiss
Person of 2005 - Laura Hird, for providing writers with this platform
2005 in 12 Words - Heartbreak travelling on a train, being too stupid to notice.
� Heidi James
Reproduced with permission
ANDREW HOOK
Best Book - Conrad Williams - 'London Revenant' (published 2004 but I didn't read it til this year)
Best Film - 'Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' (I don't get out much!)
Best Album - Art Brut - 'Bang Bang Rock And Roll' - first 5 tracks are the best post-pop-punk you'll ever hear!
Best Gig - Blondie at Ipswich Regent - caught the band three times on this tour. Genuinely iconic.
Best Literary Magazine - Open Wide Magazine
Best Writing Website - www.laurahird.com. So much good stuff here it would take a lifetime to read it all.
Best Publisher - According to the British Fantasy Awards it was me publishing as Elastic Press
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - Paul Houghton
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Poet - Catherynne M Valente
Best www.laurahird.com Reviewer - Peter Murphy for the music
What to Look Out For in 2006 - Tomb Raider: Legend (I know, I know!) / Julian Cope on tour
Moment of 2005 - Stockwell tube shooting which pushed some perspective into people's minds.
Person of 2005 - Harold Pinter for his stunning Nobel Prize speech
2005 in 12 Words - Probably the most important year of my life
� Andrew Hook
Reproduced with permission
ALIYA WHITELEY
Best Book - Hilary Mantel � 'Beyond Black'
Best Film - Haven�t seen a really good film this year
Writer of 2005 - Iain Banks, for writing great books and winning Celebrity Mastermind
Best Album - Kaiser Chiefs - 'Employment'
Best Gig - Kathryn James at The Betsy Trotwood
Best Literary Magazine - Pulp.net
Best Writing Website - UK Authors has a special place in my heart
Best Publisher - Bluechrome
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - I really enjoyed A. Igoni Barrett�s �The Tempest�
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Poet - Charles P Ries
Best www.laurahird.com Reviewer - Kara Kellar Bell does a wonderful job of rounding up and taming the small press mags
What to Look Out For in 2006 - 'Three Things About Me!' Published by Macmillan in July 06
Moment of 2005 - The birth of my daughter, Elsa. Although the painkillers meant that the actual moment of birth was sort of blurry
Person of 2005 - Oprah Winfrey
2005 in 12 Words - Imminent disaster thwarted by move to the country and giving up newspapers
� Aliya Whiteley
Reproduced with permission
IAIN BAHLAJ
Best Book - 'The Collector' by John Fowles - (only fiction i've read i think, and it isn't new, but'll have to do)
Best Film - Can't think of any new films i've watched
Writer of the Year - Laura Hird. (awwww)
Best Album - 'Funeral' by Arcade Fire
Best Gig - Arcade Fire/Franz ferdinand at Princes Street Gardens (only one i went to)
Best Literary Magazine - Don't read any
Best Writing Website - www.laurahird.com
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - Willie Smith
Best www.laurahird.com Reviewer - Kara Kellar Bell
What to Look Out For in 2006 - Arctic Monkeys
Moment of 2005 - Shayne winning X Factor. It was so emotional I had a lump in my throat. It's heartening to see some real talent coming through. God bless the Great British Public.
Person of 2005 - Peter Stringfellow
2005 in 12 Words - It was just another year. Pretty dull really. I sound like Eeyore.
� Ian Bahlaj
Reproduced with permission
DELPHINE LECOMPTE
Best Book - the con man - ed mcbain
Best Film - the big sleep
Writer of 2005 - laird long
Best Album - OASIS: 'don't believe the truth'; british sea power: 'open season'; super furry animals: 'love kraft'; ian brown: 'the greatest'; supergrass: 'road to rouen'; richard hawley: 'coles corner'; arcade fire: 'funeral'; nick cave and the bad seeds: 'b-sides and rarities'; doves: 'some cities'; mercury rev: 'the secret migration'; rufus wainwright: 'want two'; martha wainwright: 'martha wainwright';
morrissey: 'live at earls court'; bright eyes: 'digital ash in a digital urn'; eels: 'blinking lights and other revelations'; my morning jacket: 'z'; babyshambles: 'down in albion'; bloc party: 'silent alarm'; queens of the stone age: 'lullabies to paralyze'
Best Gig - eels in antwerp
Best Literary Magazine - BULLET magazine
Best Writing Website - thieves jargon
Best Publisher - matt digangi (thieves jargon press)
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - paul kavanagh
What to Look Out For in 2006 - richard ashcroft
Moment of 2005 - 25th april,the day i got sacked from the supermarket
Person of 2005 - noel gallagher
2005 in 12 Words - i wrote my first long story, and i developed epilepsy
� Delphine LeCompte
Reproduced with permission
EDDIE JEFFREY
Best Book - �The Human Stain� (Philip Roth). Quite possibly the best run-on sentences ever committed to paper. Mr. Roth definitely earned his stripe as a PEN/Faulkner Award winner for this one. Ok. So this book was published in 2001, you got me, but it was the best book I read last year.
Best Film - 'Walk the Line' or 'March of the Penguins' or 'Wedding Crashers' or 'The Constant Gardner' or 'Syriana' or 'Brokeback Mountain'.
Best Album - John Coltrane: 'Coltrane'. An oldie, yes, but definitely the best album I purchased in 2005.
Best Gig - Coldplay in Virginia Beach
Best Literary Magazine - The Paris Review
Best Publisher - Vintage International
What to Look Out For in 2006 - An amendment to the U.S. Constitution allowing naturalized citizens to run for president--Arnie, we're looking in your direction, natch. Not to mention bigger and badder hurricanes, tsunamis, mudslides, forest fires, building collapses, SARS, mad cow disease, and, I don't know why, but locusts, huge, fuck-off swarms of locusts as far as the eye can see. Oh, and one more thing: Yellowstone is about 40,000 years past due for it's every-600,000-year cycle of mega-volcanic destruction, so keep your umbrellas handy.
Moment of 2005 - It happened on 3 January 2006, but technically it was part of the 2005 college football season: the West Virginia Mountaineers pulled a huge upset against the SEC Champion Georgia Bulldogs to win their first ever Sugar Bowl BCS game in a real barnburner 38-35. What a glorious, glorious triumph.
Person of 2005 - Andrew Stimpson, if his body's natural "cure" for HIV isn't a hoax
2005 in 12 Words - Chomping the bit, nailbiting, pensive, apathetic disasters, now what? Michael Jackson's innocent.
� Eddie Jeffrey
Reproduced with permission
ANNY DE FOOSAF
Best Book - All the classics. (I know, I�m cheating.)
Best Film - May I say the 'Wizard of Oz'?
Writer of 2005 - Tough one�erm��..
Best Album - Carpenters, 'Greatest Hits'. (Cheating again.)
Best Gig - Best what? Oh. Erm, the Motown show in the West End that my husband took me to see for my birthday
Best Writing Website - This one
Best Publisher - I quite like Scotland�s very own Canongate. They publish some really talented people.
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Fiction Writer - Kathleen Kirik Bryson. It�s unfair to have so much talent and beauty.
Best www.laurahird.com Showcase Poet - Elena Georgiou
Best www.laurahird.com Reviewer - Kara Bell
What to Look Out For in 2006 - George Bush!
Moment of 2005 - Discovering this site and all the amazing talent
Person of 2005 - Laura Hird, for doing all this for free, giving of her time, her expertise just to help others.
2005 in 12 Words - Global warming became a reality.
� Anny de Foosaf
Reproduced with permission
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