National Treasures: The Brontë Award

An initiative from The Telegraph and the British Library:

This year, 2008, marks the 10th anniversary of the Royal opening of the British Library’s St Pancras building. The Library holds many treasures among its 150 million items, and so to mark the anniversary we have joined forces with the Sunday Telegraph to run a National Treasures competition.

British Library and Sunday Telegraph specialists have nominated shortlists of people who we think deserve the title of ‘National Treasure’ – in Japan and other countries an honour akin to being given an MBE.

The first four categories are based on some of the British Library’s best-known treasures:

* The National Treasure for Public Life - The Magna Carta Award
* The National Treasure for Sciences - The Leonardo da Vinci Award
* The National Treasure for Innovation and Enterprise - The Caxton Award
* The National Treasure for Arts - The Brontë Award

A fifth category offers an opportunity for the public to nominate a person they feel should be included on the list. The winners will receive the award during a special ceremony to be held in September.

We read in The Telegraph:

What distinguishes the Brontë Award (named after the original Jane Eyre manuscripts held in the Treasures’ Gallery at the library) from our other categories is that our nominees are familiar through their work. We could have run the list twice over, and, as our online commentators should note, we might even have had room for Sir Cliff Richard. But, in the words of Sir Tom, “good things, when short, are twice as good”.

These are the entertainers, the showmen and women who make us laugh, cry, scream and shout.

• Alan Bennett

• Dame Judi Dench

• David Hockney

• Jools Holland

• Sir Anthony Hopkins

• Joanna Lumley

• Sir Paul McCartney

• Ian McEwan

• Roger McGough

• Sir Ian McKellen

• Sir Jonathan Miller

• Dame Helen Mirren

• Sir Simon Rattle

• JK Rowling

• Sir Tom Stoppard

You can vote right here.

Categories: In the News