LONDON (Reuters) – American short story writer Lydia Davis won the fifth Man Booker International Prize for fiction on Wednesday for a body of work that includes some of the briefest tales ever published.

Davis – who has only written one novel – beat out a shortlist of 10 contenders for the 60,000 pound ($90,800) prize that included two authors banned in their home countries, the youngest ever nominee and one shortlisted for the second time.

LONDON (Reuters) – American short story writer Lydia Davis won the fifth Man Booker International Prize for fiction on Wednesday for a body of work that includes some of the briefest tales ever published.

Davis – who has only written one novel – beat out a shortlist of 10 contenders for the 60,000 pound ($90,800) prize that included two authors banned in their home countries, the youngest ever nominee and one shortlisted for the second time.

LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) – Some spectators at London’s
Chelsea Flower Show wouldn’t be caught dead with one in the boot
of their Bentley, but garden gnomes have turned up at the show’s
100th edition this year, for charity.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), which runs Chelsea in
the grounds of the Christopher Wren-built Royal Hospital
Chelsea, has lifted a ban on the ceramic figures with floppy
hats and beards in order to raise funds for an RHS charity that
supports the use of gardens in schools.

LONDON (Reuters) – An invitation from the White House robbed Emeli Sande on Thursday of the chance to celebrate the latest mark of her success in an unstoppable rise to the front ranks of British female singers.

The Scottish singer-songwriter’s “Next To Me” single won both the best song and most performed work categories at Britain’s 58th Ivor Novello awards for songwriting, putting her on a par with some of Britain’s biggest music names.

LONDON (Reuters) – Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has had a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer and says she hopes her story will inspire other women fighting the life-threatening disease.

Jolie wrote in the New York Times on Tuesday the operation has made it easier for her to reassure her six children that she would not die young from cancer, like her own mother did at 56.

LONDON, May 13 (Reuters) – Out go the themed rooms and
groupings of artists at London’s Tate Britain gallery, and in
comes a pure, sunlit, chronological walk through British art
from 1540 to the present.

The world’s leading collection of British paintings and
sculpture on Monday threw open a permanent gallery so radically
refurbished and reorganised that every one of the 500-odd works
on display had to be rehung.

LONDON (Reuters) – More than half of British consumers refuse to spend money unless it is “absolutely necessary” in a weak economy, with prosecco now more likely to mark a special occasion than champagne, according a new consumer trend report released on Friday.

Global research firm Mintel’s annual “British Lifestyles” report said one day after the country skirted a “triple dip” recession that consumers have made paying their bills and saving for a rainy day their top priorities.

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) – More than half of British
consumers refuse to spend money unless it is “absolutely
necessary” in a weak economy, with prosecco now more likely to
mark a special occasion than champagne, according a new consumer
trend report released on Friday.

Global research firm Mintel’s annual “British Lifestyles”
report said one day after the country skirted a “triple dip”
recession that consumers have made paying their bills and saving
for a rainy day their top priorities.

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) – Mass retailers and the Internet
will increasingly dominate the $164 billion global wine market
at the expense of bars and restaurants, industry experts said on
Thursday.

A report commissioned by VINEXPO, an international wine and
spirits trade fair, also highlighted the dramatic rise of China
as a consumer of wines – mostly its own. It topped all other
countries in volume and value between 2007 and 2011.

LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) – Irish author Roddy Doyle’s
bestselling novel “The Commitments” is finally being made into a
musical, more than 25 years after the heartwarming tale of a
group of aspiring soul musicians was first published.

The Booker Prize winner’s 1987 story about young working
class Jimmy Rabbitte’s efforts to form the “finest soul act in
Dublin” became a hit film in 1991, but Doyle said he turned down
a flood of requests to adapt it into a musical at the time.