Borders announced on Wednesday the winners of the 2007 Original Voices Awards. Steven Hall won in fiction for his debut novel, The Raw Shark Texts (Canongate), and Peter Godwin won in creative nonfiction for When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa (Little, Brown). Each will receive $5,000 at a ceremony in March, and their winning books will be highlighted at Borders outlets nationwide.
A committee of Borders corporate staff selected the winners from a pool of finalists chosen by both corporate and store employees.
The Borders Original Voices Awards are given annually to honor "innovative and inspiring books from first-time authors as well as works that represent a new direction for established authors" of fiction and creative nonfiction, as well as young adult literature and children’s picture books.
