Building Norfolk wins at the East Anglican Book Awards

Building Norfolk, by Matthew Rice, was named East Anglian Book of the Year at a ceremony at Jarrold in Norwich, attended by more than 100 people and hosted by writer and raconteur Keith Skipper.

The competition, supported by the literature development organisation Writers' Centre Norwich, was held to highlight the best new writing about Norfolk, Suffolk and Fenland.

Novelist Rose Tremain, who lives near Norwich, presented the prizes to the winning authors in six categories and gave a talk explaining how East Anglia has influenced her writing.

The judges hailed Building Norfolk as "an impressive achievement - a wonderfully illustrated book that makes you look again at Norfolk and see its glorious array of architecture with fresh eyes".

Mr Rice's book combines his watercolour paintings of a variety of local buildings with an architectural history of the region.

Winning the overall prize brought Mr Rice £250 in Jarrold vouchers. It had earlier been named as the winner in the Art and Photography category.

Mr Rice, who lives in Oxford and Blakeney with the potter Emma Bridgewater, could not attend the ceremony owing to long- standing commitments in Spain.

In a speech delivered by Emma O'Bryen, of the book's publishers Frances Lincoln, he said: "This book is what my wife Emma calls my 'love letter to Norfolk'. "And it is just that, a deeply felt illustrated song about the most beautiful county in Britain."

The judges for the second annual East Anglian Book Awards were Booker Prize longlisted author and UEA creative writing tutor Andrew Cowan, Writers' Centre Norwich chief executive Chris Gribble, Jarrold's community affairs adviser Caroline Jarrold, and EDP books editor Keiron Pim.

The winners of the East Anglican Book Awards with Frances Lincoln's Emma O'Bryen in the centre accepting the trophy on Matthew Rice's behalf.