A bookshop in Kirkby Lonsdale has launched a new award to promote the best talent the town has to offer.

The Book Lounge, which can be found at 41 Main Street, 'finally' announced the Kirkby Lonsdale Book Award on Thursday.

The aim of the award is to showcase the literary skill that is littered across the area, as well as further connecting the community to those stories.

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Valerie Laycock, one of the owners, said: "In this first year of the award, it will be for poetry to tie in with the second Kirkby Lonsdale Poetry Festival, then next year I’ll introduce an Adult Fiction category and then the following year introduce a Children’s Fiction category.

"The award winner will be chosen by the community through voting within the local book clubs, shop customers, library users, online and paper voting."

A shortlist will be announced in either March or April, and the award winner will be announced in September during the Poetry Festival.

"This year, due to the timing, I will choose a selection of six poetry books to be in the shortlist," Valerie explained.

"Next year, the shortlists for both categories, poetry and fiction, will be built by the community - this is where the local book clubs can get involved."

The books in the shortlist must have been published in the previous 12 months, with the festival in September therefore promoting the best that 2023 brought us.

"When the shortlist is announced we are hoping that the books will be available from the library, and I will have some customer copies available to borrow too.

"We want all the community to have access to the books and have the chance to be involved, which is why I'll also be selling them at a discount.

"This is the first year of what will hopefully grow and develop into an annual event involving the whole community."