The following story appeared in the Richmond & Twickenham Times local newspaper on 12th January 2007.
Text version:
Disgraced author’s new offering
The author notoriously stripped of a literary prize following allegations of plagiarism has bounced back with a new book based on the “fiasco”.
Stephen Miles, a long-time East Twickenham resident, infamously foreited the Leonard Sankey prize for New Talent in Fiction in 2002.
The book at the heart of the controversy, Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown, was written in a bid to win back Miles’ estranged wife, Fon. The book described Miles’ move to Twickenham and how he met Fon in a Thai restaurant in Richmond Road.
Miles’ publisher, Ron Cooper of Thought Cat, said: “He used the competition to try to win Fon back, but it did not work in the way he wanted.
“But it’s true the fiasco did not do his literary career any harm.”
Miles’ new memoir, All My Own Work, tells the story of the Leonard Sankey debacle taking the beauty of the borough as a backdrop.
Now reunited with Fon and living in Thailand, Miles plans to return to live in Twickenham later this year.
All My Own Work is available at The Open Book in King Street, Richmond.*
* please note as of summer 2009 the book is no longer available from this bookshop.