Camilla to present Man Booker Prize to winner

LONDON, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Camilla, the wife of Britain's Prince Charles, is to present the prestigious Man Booker Prize for fiction to the winner at a London gala, organizers said.

Nominated for this year's edition of the literary award are works by Jim Crace, Colm Toibin, Eleanor Catton, NoViolet Bulawayo, Jhumpa Lahiri and Ruth Ozeki.

Camilla will present the grand prize of $79,000 to the winner at the Guildhall ceremony Oct. 15.

"I firmly believe in the importance of igniting a passion for reading in the next generation," the BBC quoted the duchess as saying at the kickoff of the National Literacy Trust's campaign to identify literary heroes this week. "In a world where the written word competes with so many other calls on our attention, we need more literacy heroes to keep inspiring young people to find the pleasure and power of reading for themselves."