About the Judges for Melissa Nathan, Romantic Comedy Fiction

The judging panel for the 2008 award is currently being drawn up.
The 2007 award was judged by comedian Jo Brand, author Joanna Trollope, actress Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson), author Sophie Kinsella and Gaynor Allen, Buying Manager for Books at Tesco.

Photograph copyright of BBC	Jo Brand Since leaving her job as a psychiatric nurse in 1987, Jo Brand has become a hugely popular household name. Her ‘Through the Cakehole’ series met with universal acclaim, as did her 1996 series ‘All the Way to Worcester’. She has appeared on many different programmes such as ‘Question Time’, ‘Never Mind the Buzzcocks’, ‘They Think It’s All Over’, ‘Celebrity Fame Academy’ and ‘What Not to Wear on the Red Carpet’. She has written two irreverent books about leading men and women in history, and two novels. The most recent, IT’S DIFFERENT FOR GIRLS, was published last year.
	Alan Davies Alan had a well established career in stand-up comedy before crossing over to television where he has stars in Jonathan Creek and is a regular panellist on Stephen Fry’s quiz Qi. Jonathan has also had his own eponymous radio show, starred in a spoof travel show called One for the road and took a cameo role in 2001 Brit-film Dog Eat Dog.
© Véronique Rolland	Joanna Trollope Joanna is best known as the bestselling author of eagerly awaited and sparklingly readable novels often centred around the domestic dramas of life in contemporary England. Her latest novel, THE SECOND HONEYMOON, was a number one bestseller. She is also the author of a number of historical novels and of Britannia’s Daughters, a study of women in the British Empire. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages and several have been adapted by the BBC and Masterpiece Theatre. Joanna Trollope also writes under the pseudonym of Caroline Harvey.
	Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson) Jessica co-wrote and co-starred in two series of SPACED on Channel 4. Spaced was nominated as Best Sitcom and Jessica won the Best Female Comedy Newcomer Award at the British Comedy Awards 2000. The 2nd series was nominated at the 2001 International Emmy Awards. She was nominated for Best Actress at the 2003 BAFTA Awards for her performance in TOMORROW LA SCALA. Her performance in THE NIGHT HERON at the Royal Court was nominated for Best Performance in a Supporting Role at the 2003 Olivier Awards. She has just completed filming two episodes of DOCTOR WHO.
Photograph courtesy of Henry Wickham	Sophie Kinsella Sophie Kinsella raced to the top of the bestseller lists in 2000 when her novel THE SECRET DREAMWORLD OF A SHOPAHOLIC was published. Since then her ‘SHOPHAHOLIC’ novels have sold over two million copies to date. She has also written two stand-alone novels, CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET and THE UNDOMESTIC GODESS, both of which were number one bestsellers, and seven novels under her real name, Madeleine Wickham.
	Gaynor Allen Gaynor Allen has been Buying Manager for Books at Tesco since July 2006. Before that she was Category Manager for Books at Borders for 2 years. Prior to that she held a variety of buying positions at Selfridges and DSG. She has always been an avid reader and especially enjoy women's fiction, crime and biography.

Melissa Nathan Award shortlist is announced!
Shortlist announcement

Click here to view all news articles

Click here for the Melissa Nathan Foundation section