P. H. Newby P. H. Newby Percy Howard Newby CBE (25 June 1918 – 6 September 1997) was an English novelist and broadcasting administrator. He was the first winner of the Booker Prize, his novel "Something to Answer For" having received the inaugural award in 1969. P.H. Newby, known as Howard Newby, was born in Crowborough, Sussex on 25 June 1918 and was educated at Hanley Castle Grammar School in Worcestershire, and St Paul's College of Education in Cheltenham. In October 1939 he was sent to France to serve in World War II as a private in the Royal Army Medical Corps. His
Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year announced on 5 September 2008, was "Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers", the 1996 winner. Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year The "Bookseller"/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, originally known as the Diagram Group Prize for the Oddest Title at the Frankfurt Book Fair, commonly known as the Diagram Prize for short, is a humorous literary award that is given annually to a book with an unusual title. The prize is named after the "Diagram Group", an information and graphics company based in London, and "The Bookseller", a British trade magazine for the publishing industry.