Lord Melvyn Bragg, who first worked as Russell's assistant in 1963 on BBC programme Monitor, said he was "an exceptional man".

BBC: Ken Russell, Women In Love director, dies at 84

Speaking after the announcement, broadcaster and novelist Melvyn Bragg praised Mrs.

WSJ: 'Imaginative' Oxford Gift to Boost Humanities Study

South Bank Show presenter Melvyn Bragg, who will host the awards next month, said the judges had had a "tough job" to decide on the shortlist.

BBC: Olympic art nominated for South Bank award

After beginning his career as an actor Garland joined the BBC, where he directed programmes for Huw Wheldon on the arts programme Monitor, working alongside Melvyn Bragg and Ken Russell.

BBC: Patrick Garland and Alexandra Bastedo

Keswick's Theatre by the Lake is staging Melvyn Bragg's "Maid of Buttermere" at present, and I was delighted to be in the audience last week, for the production is a tour de force.

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Previous winners include Sandy Toksvig and Melvyn Bragg.

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This year, for the first time, a "long list" of eligible novelists was made public and included Melvyn Bragg, Nick Hornby, Nadine Gordimer, VS Naipaul and Marina Warner, all of whom were later rejected by the panel.

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In part, this reflects the fact that some of the first rich people to back Labour came from the arts men like David Puttnam, a film maker, and Melvyn Bragg, a television presenter. (Both men are now peers.) But it also illustrates a keenness to cultivate opinion makers.

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