27 Jan 2011 00:55:47
Shapcott said she was shocked to take the 30,000-pound ($48,000) prize, more often won by novelists.
She said late Tuesday the book was "a series of meditations on mortality, some of which are terribly cheerful, in fact ecstatic."
The Costa prizes are awarded in five categories, with one chosen as the overall winner.
The other finalists were Maggie O'Farrell's novel "The Hand That First Held Mine," Kishwar Desai's debut novel "Witness the Night," Edmund de Waal's memoir "The Hare with Amber Eyes" and Jason Wallace's book for children "Out of Shadows."
The award is open to writers based in Britain and Ireland.
She said late Tuesday the book was "a series of meditations on mortality, some of which are terribly cheerful, in fact ecstatic."
The Costa prizes are awarded in five categories, with one chosen as the overall winner.
The other finalists were Maggie O'Farrell's novel "The Hand That First Held Mine," Kishwar Desai's debut novel "Witness the Night," Edmund de Waal's memoir "The Hare with Amber Eyes" and Jason Wallace's book for children "Out of Shadows."
The award is open to writers based in Britain and Ireland.
