12 Years A Slave writer lands posthumous honour

The man whose story inspired Oscar-nominated movie 12 Years A Slave has been honoured posthumously, more than 150 years after he wrote his memoirs. The film is based on the 1853 book by Solomon Northup, a free man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery, and he has now been honoured for his writing with the 26th annual University of Southern California (USC) Libraries Scripter Award.
Northup, who is played onscreen by British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, shares the accolade with the film’s screenwriter John Ridley.
Ridley accepted the prize during a gala ceremony, chaired by Dame Helen Mirren and her husband Taylor Hackford, in Los Angeles on Saturday (08Feb14).
Previous winners of the award include the writers behind acclaimed films such as Argo, The Descendants and The Social Network.