Ruth Ozeki's A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING Wins the 2013 Red Tentacle Award

By: BWW News Desk Feb. 13, 2014

Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being saw off competition last night from Anne Carson, Thomas Pynchon, Patrick Ness and James Smyth to secure the Red Tentacle (Novel) award. It was selected by a panel made up by fellow authors Kate Griffin, Nick Harkaway and Will Hill; TED fellow Anab Jain; and whitefox founder Annabel Wright.

The award is the latest recognition in a flood of critical acclaim and award success that includes an Independent Booksellers Week Award and a Man Booker Prize shortlisting since the book's simultaneous release across hardback, paperback, digital and audio formats in March 2013.

Unable to make the ceremony in person, marooned, like her character in the book, on a remote island in Desolation Sound, Ozeki sent this message:

"This is truly a fantastical honor, and one that surpasses my wildest imaginings. I have always wanted a tentacle of my very own, and now I have one! ... The novels nominated for this award form a spectacular array, and I was as excited to see mine amongst them, as I am humbled now by this improbable but happy outcome."

Her full acceptance speech is available at http://www.canongate.tv/discover/ruth-ozeki-kitschies-prize, and to celebrate her win the paperback will be available for £4.50 until the end of February.

Now in their fifth year, the Kitschies Tentacles include the Red (novel), Golden (debut) and Inky (cover art) awards, as well as the Black Tentacle, awarded at the discretion of the judges to a piece of work that doesn't otherwise fit the Kitschies criteria. Presented last night at a ceremony at the Seven Dials Club in London, the prizes recognize the year's most progressive, intelligent and entertaining works that contain elements of the speculative or fantastic. Joining Ozeki as this year's winners were Anne Leckie, who picked up the Golden Tentacle for her debut Ancillary Justice, Adam Christopher and Will Staehle, whose cover art for The Age Atomic merited the Inky Tentacle, and Malorie Blackman, whose work was recognized by the judges' discretionary Black Tentacle award. The 2013 finalists were selected from a record 234 submissions, from over fifty publishers and imprints. The winners received a total of £2,000 in prize money as well as their iconic Tentacle trophies, while all finalists received bottles of The Kraken Rum.

The full Red Tentacle shortlist consisted:

• A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (Canongate)

• Red Doc> by Anne Carson (Jonathan Cape)

• Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon (Jonathan Cape)

• More Than This by Patrick Ness (Walker)

• The Machine by James Smythe (HarperCollins / Blue Door)

A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki, was published on March 11th 2013:

Hardback £20 / Paperback £8.99 / Audio Digital Download £13.99 / Ebook £8.99