The Colman Getty PEN Quiz
Monday 26 November 2007, 6pm-1am
Cafe Royal, 68 Regent Street, London
Press release, Tuesday 27 November
Mail on Sunday triumphant in Colman Getty PEN Quiz
Last night's Colman Getty PEN Quiz saw the Mail on Sunday take first place with Faber & Faber narrowly beating off competition from four other teams (The Guardian, The Times, HW Fisher and Penguin) to take second place. Members of the winning team included: George Thwaites, Susanna Gross, David Mellor, Jaci Stephens and Marcus Berkmann.
The night's proceedings were expertly supervised by Jeremy Paxman. In his own formidable style he oversaw the six rounds and unruly teams, calling the chattering tables to immediate silence with his steely glare and not so dulcet tones.
As the evening drew to a climax, Will Self took to the stage to announce the results of the raffle. Will's sardonic stage presence led to an idiosyncratic but nonetheless profitable auction of some of the prizes including: 2 tickets to a recording session and access to the green room of TV show QI; a set of this year's shortlist for the Man Booker Prize 2007, signed by the authors, and a special batch of cupcakes baked by Nigella Lawson.
English PEN are delighted to have raised just under £50,000 from the evening. The Quiz provides essential funds to support PEN's work defending freedom of expression, campaigning on behalf of persecuted writers worldwide and promoting literature and literacy.
Jonathan Heawood, Director of English PEN, said: 'This year's Colman Getty PEN Quiz was undoubtedly the best yet, with fierce competition for the trophy. This is an important night for us, when the entire industry comes together to support the freedom to write for which English PEN campaigns. The question-setters gave our teams a tough challenge, but everyone came out fighting. We are already looking forward to next year's event.'
English PEN would like to thank Jeremy Paxman, Will Self, AP Watt, Foyles, the Café Royal, Zia Trench, our volunteers and everyone who donated raffle prizes.
Teams for 2007 included Association of Author's Agents, Baker Tilly, Bloomberg, British Council Literature Office, Charles Russell, Colman Getty, Faber & Faber, Foyles, Granta/Portobello, HW Fisher, HarperCollins, Hodder Headline, Ian Fleming Publications, JFL Recruitment, London Book Fair, Literary Review, Little Brown Book Group, Harlequin Mills and Boon, Mail on Sunday, Nielsen Book Data, Orion Book Group, Penguin Group, Piatkus Books, Poet in the City, Political Quarterly/Prospect, Reynolds Port Chamberlain, Simon and Schuster, The Guardian, The Observer, The Sunday Times, The Times and Transworld.
Click here to read about the Quiz 2006