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Former editor wins top book prize

A former journalist and magazine editor won a top regional book prize.

Keith Richardson, who was editor of CN Group title Cumbria Life for 18 years until 2007, took home the 25th annual Lakeland Book of the Year award.

The accolade was for his collection of interviews with local characters called ‘Ivver Sen: Lake District: The Life and Times of the Men and Women Who Work the Land’.

Ivver Sen is Cumbrian dialect for ‘ever since’ and the book was published by Keith’s own firm River Greta Writer which he set up in October 2007, costing him £20,000 to finance.

The panel of judges included Border TV’s Fiona Armstrong and local author Kathleen Jones.

Keith told the News and Star: “It is the people I have written about who deserve the credit.

“I hope in my small way I have pictured these Cumbrian stalwarts in a light reflecting the decades they have worked the land in one form or another, and whose deeds go totally unsung.

“Keith Bowen and Val Corbett have been magnificent in portraying their images in an uncannily lifelike way and must take a lot of the credit.

“It was a pleasant surprise to hear the book announced as winner.”