Lawson Wins Author of Year Award

LONDON (AP) â€” A domestic goddess defeated a boy wizard at the British Book Awards Thursday. <br><br>Cookbook writer Nigella Lawson, author of the comfort-food compendium ``How to be a Domestic Goddess,''

Thursday, February 22nd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LONDON (AP) â€” A domestic goddess defeated a boy wizard at the British Book Awards Thursday.

Cookbook writer Nigella Lawson, author of the comfort-food compendium ``How to be a Domestic Goddess,'' was named author of the year, beating J.K. Rowling, creator of teen-age wizard Harry Potter. Mystery writers Ian Rankin and Colin Dexter also were on the shortlist.

Rowling won the award last year.

Book of the year was Tony Parsons' dissection of male angst, ``Man and Boy,'' which beat Joanne Harris's ``Chocolat,'' ``Experience'' by Martin Amis and the best-selling ``Beatles Anthology'' to the prize.

Zadie Smith was named newcomer of the year for her highly praised novel of multicultural London, ``White Teeth.''

Rowling also lost out in the children's-book category, where the latest Harry Potter book, ``Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,'' was beaten by Philip Pullman's ``The Amber Spyglass.''

It wasn't all bad news for the Potter camp. Bloomsbury, publisher of the Harry Potter books, was declared publisher of the year for the second year running, and the publicity campaign for ``Goblet of Fire'' was named the industry's marketing campaign of the year.