Literary lights in Liverpool

AFTER Rushdie, Brookner and Kazuo lshiguro come Worlock and Sheppard. Liverpool's two bishops have joined the ranks of Britain's literary prize winners with the honour of the Collins Religious Book Award for their joint effort, Better Together.
The book, published by Hodder and Stoughton, charts the two bishops arrival and work in Liverpool and their unique ecumenical witness in the inner cities. Worth 12,000, the prize is awarded every two years for "the book which has made the most distinguished contribution to Christianity in the world today". The panel this year was chaired by Lord Coggan, the retired archbishop of Canterbury, and included writer Mary Craig, Provost of Southwark, David Edwards, and Esther de Waal.
Runners up were John Bowden's Jesus: The Unanswered Questions (SCMP), Don Cupitt's The Long legged Fly (SCMP), Bishop Richard Holloway's Crossfire (Collins), Edward Robinson's The Language of Mystery (SCMP), and Stephen Verney's The Dance of Love (Collins/Fount).