The award, which comes with a cheque for a full £3000, is given to books that are about or are set in the North West of England. Clearly delighted with his award he told the Ripple jokily:
"I'm delighted to have won the Portico Prize, which was the only UK literary award that Anthony Burgess ever won (in 1989, for his novel 'Any Old Iron'). "I was told that Burgess complained rather loudly about the smallness of the cheque, even as he was in the act of pocketing it. I hope I managed to behave slightly better at the prize-giving ceremony." Ripple Editor in the academic year 1993–94 Biswell is now a lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he is Academic Director of the university's highly regarded Writing School. A life long fan of Anthony Burgess his book has been described by critics as "a labour of love" and "the work of a true Burgess scholar." Despite the critical praise the book received on publication Biswell admits the awards and public reaction have completely taken him by surprise: "To be honest my main hope before publication was that the book would be reviewed, rather than sinking into the deep swamp of obscurity, as the majority of first books tend to." For Biswell it's also provided him with an opportunity to expose Anthony Burgess to a pretty uneducated public: | "His life story wasn't well known...and I discovered a huge amount of information that he left out of his memoirs." | | Andrew Biswell |
"Most people have heard of 'A Clockwork Orange' or seen the film, but Burgess wrote 32 other novels which have been almost forgotten. "His life story wasn't well known, which is why I wanted to find out about it, and I discovered a huge amount of information that he left out of his memoirs. "Finding his unpublished letters was very important, because they allowed me to tell some of the story in his own voice." 2007 looks also set to be a big year for Biswell, he's just finished making a documentary about Anthony Burgess, which will be broadcast on 25 February and is in the process of starting another biography, slated for a 2009 release. 'The Real Life Of Anthony Burgess' is available now and is published by Picador Publishing. | 
