Duo scoops prized award

Debut novelist Tatjani Soli and theatre critic Hilary Spurling have been announced as the winners of Britain’s oldest literary awards at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

The pair were awarded the James Tait Black prizes, joining the ranks of acclaimed previous recipients such as DH Lawrence, Graham Greene and Muriel Spark.

American author Soli received the fiction prize for her first novel The Lotus Eaters.

The honours are awarded every year by the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at Edinburgh University.