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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Ukraine

29th December 2011

BBC Book of the Year

One of my favourite events in Kyiv is the BBC Book of the Year Award, sponsored by the BBC Ukrainian Service.  I’ve presented the winner with the prize for the last four years, including in 2010 and this year — you can see a report on the prize, including details of the shortlist and the jury, on the BBC website (in Ukrainian only) along with a podcast of the jury talking about the books (if you haven’t caught up with the BBC Ukrainian Service podcasts, check them out).

Congratulations to the winner, Volodymyr Rutkivskiy, and to all the shortlisted authors including Taras Antynovych, with whom I was delighted to discuss his excellent-sounding sci-fi dystopic novel “Chronos” about a future Ukraine where life-swapping has become a reality.  I myself wrote a sci-fi novel with some similar themes back in the ’80s, but unlike him am still looking for a publisher.  Respect, Taras.

The BBC Ukrainian Service: Ukrainian Book of the Year Award 2011

The jury members of the BBC Book of the Year 2011 Award. 23 December 2011, Kyiv

2 comments on “BBC Book of the Year”

  2. Great choice of the book. Looking to buy one, very interesting time highlighted and way of interpretation.

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About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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art bbc books culture literature ukraine

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