BRITAIN:Novelist and stand-up comedienne AL Kennedy, who has won the Costa Book of the Year for her novel Day, called for an improved culture of reading in Britain.
The Dundee-born author (42), who did not publish under her full name of Alison Louise Kennedy to remain anonymous in case people did not like her work when she started off, beat four other writers to the £25,000 prize.
Her fifth novel, the story of a second World War veteran who confronts his past while working as an extra in a prisoner of war film, was hailed by judges as "a masterpiece" containing a shadow of "James Joyce in it".
Kennedy, who admitted that writing the book about a Lancaster bomber left her with an unpleasant side effect - a fear of flying - used her win to criticise the book industry.
The outspoken author told the room of literary figures that if they "cared about books" they should "try to maintain the cover prices" and support authors.
She said Britain was "in danger of losing our stories" and called for an improved culture of reading, with better libraries, bookshops with more choice, better deals for authors and reading in schools.
She asked: "Do we want to lose the thing that makes us who we are . . . the language that we use to express our dreams and hopes and ourselves? We're throwing that away."