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Guildford loses awards sponsor

The Guildford Book Festival is looking for a new sponsor for its First Novel Award after the Jelf Group decided to stop funding it just before Christmas. Organisers hope to sew up a new deal as soon as possible to ensure that this year's award can go ahead; they are not currently accepting submissions for the 2008 prize.

The award, which has been running for ten years, has been sponsored by financial consultancy Jelf for the last two years.

"It's tragic‹we're really upset," said director of the festival Glenis Pycraft. "Jelf is based in the West Country and decided they didn't want to sponsor something so far away--it's really come hard."

The award takes as its criteria original, well written books which readers would recommend to their friends. The 2007 award was won by Catherine O'Flynn's What Was Lost.

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