Is your life story worthy of being turned into a book?
A national competition to find a member of the public whose life experiences are worthy of being turned into a book has been launched today.
Book of My Life aims to find an individual whose story would not normally be the subject of a biography and preserve their memories in a specially-written book.
The competition has been launched by specialist heritage insurer Ecclesiastical and is open to any member of the public to nominate an individual they feel deserves to have an experience from their life turned into a book.
Over the next two months, Ecclesiastical will accept nominations from the public, local history groups, care organisations and anyone else who knows someone with a great life story. The competition's judges will then select one individual to be interviewed and researched by a biographer and have a short-run book published by Ecclesiastical.
Clare Pardy, fine art and heritage underwriter for Ecclesiastical and chair of the judging panel said: "Anyone who has a friend or family member whose story they feel should be saved for future generations can nominate them for the competition. The winner will have the opportunity to relate their story to a professional author who will write a book to be published by Ecclesiastical.
"We're looking for people who have experienced something that encapsulates key changes in society, who've made a real difference or who've been involved in events such as the Second World War. There are so many stories in the lives of so-called ‘ordinary' members of the public and we want to capture some of these and preserve them. It's these personal stories that form the tapestry of our heritage. Sometimes what seems to the individual concerned to be an ordinary story can have extraordinary value in terms of social history.
"From the Great Depression to the Swinging Sixties, from the Battle of Britain to the Miners' Strike, this country has in living memory witnessed arguably more social, cultural, political and industrial change than any other period.
"The Book of My Life project will give us the opportunity to capture at least one of those stories and save it for future generations. Indeed, we hope that this project will help increase enthusiasm for preserving this essential part of our social history."
The stories Ecclesiastical is looking for could relate to an unsung achievement, a never-to-be-repeated experience, someone in the background of a significant historical occasion or a person able to give insight into a period that might be lost to future generations.
Anyone wishing to nominate someone they know for the Book of My Life can find details of how to do so by visiting the Ecclesiastical Insurance website at ecclesiastical.com/bookofmylife. Entries will close at the end of April and the winner's book will be published in June. Copies of the book will be given free to the winner and their family and friends, with volumes also being donated to local heritage organisations, libraries and museums.