About Entertainment – Magazine – Literary prize judges plant trees

About Entertainment – Magazine –

Mr Portillo was joined by the other judges, including Louise Doughty

Booker Prize judges have planted an avenue of oak trees in a symbolic gesture over felled timber used to produce books entered for the prize.

The group, led by Michael Portillo – chair of last year’s panel, planted 13 saplings in a woodland site in Essex.

They mark the "Booker Dozen" – the 13 titles long-listed for the prestigious award every year.

Ion Trewin, literary director of the prize said: "I can’t think of a more fitting way of putting something back."

He added: "I hope this planting of a grove of trees might prove an annual event leading ultimately to a wood, even a Booker forest."

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More than 100 novels were submitted for last year’s prize, which was won by Aravind Adiga for The White Tiger.

The 97-acre Theydon Bois site, near Epping Forest, was acquired by the Woodland Trust in 1997 and has been planted with thousands of native broadleaved trees.

Laura Judson, the trust’s head of regional development, said: "There is no better way to illustrate the direct connection between the vast amount of print material consumed in the name of literature."

The long-list for this year’s prize will be announced in August, with the winner named in October.