Stuart Blackburn’s novel Into the Hidden Valley wins MM Bennetts Award for Historical Fiction
Q. Which novel authored by Stuart Blackburn on 4th September 2016 won the 2016 MM Bennets Award for Historical Fiction in the UK?- Published on 12 Sep 16a. Into the Hidden Cliff
b. Into the Hidden Hill
c. Into the Hidden Mountain
d. Into the Hidden Valley
ANSWER: Into the Hidden Valley
Blackburn’s novel won the award in the UK on 4th September 2016. Author was presented the award at the HNS Conference in Oxford.
- Book narrates the story of the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh during British India times and the colonial history of British India
- Into the Hidden Valley explores the impact of colonialism whereby a settled civilisation collided with the British empire
- Into the Hidden Valley was chosen for the award ahead of Helena Page Schrader’s Defender of Jerusalem and Kermit Roosevelt’s Allegiance.
- Blackburn is an author of 16 books on Indian culture and folklore, mostly in S India and NE India
- One book, a study of shadow puppet theatre in Kerala was the runner up for the UK Folklore Book of the Year while a translation of an early Tamil novel won the AK Ramanujan Prize in the US
- He is also director of the 5 year, multidisciplinary grant to study Tibet Burma tribal cultures in NE India providing inspiration for the Hidden Valley
- MM Bennetts was a specialist in early 19th century British History and book critic for the Christian Science Monitor- the award is named after him.
