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AP Watt triumphed at last night's Colman Getty PEN quiz in central London, beating a 23-strong field of publishers, agents and newspaper groups.
The Times and The Daily Telegraph were joint second with The Guardian and Independent fourth equal. Little, Brown was the most successful publisher, coming sixth, followed by HarperCollins, who placed joint tenth with The Bookseller. The Bloomberg team brought up the rear.
On AP Watt's team sheet were Derek Johns, captain, plus Louisa Young, Giles Foden, Daisy Goodwin, David Miller, Martin Rowson, Andrew Kidd, Gillian Slovo and James and Natasha Fairweather.
The event, now in its 10th year, is a major fundraising showcase for the literary charity, which campaigns for literature and the freedom of writers around the world. Questions were posed by BBC Radio 4 The Today Programme's James Naughtie, with the raffle run by Martin Rowson, The Guardian's cartoonist. Question setters were Marcus Berkmann and Stephen Arkell.
Jonathan Heawood, director of English PEN, said: ‘It was a very special evening. Despite the tough economic climate, people in publishing and journalism still know how to enjoy themselves – which means that at PEN, we’re able to continue campaigning for literature and free speech.’
Other book trade teams were provided by Hachette, Simon & Schuster, the London Book Fair, Nielsen, Penguin, Random House, Waterstone's and the organisers Colman Getty. Last year Simon & Schuster beat The Guardian to first place.