Our annual pick of the most exciting debut fiction has previously tipped Sally Rooney and Louise Kennedy, Tom Crewe and Douglas Stuart. Here the class of 2024 tell us their storiesEach year since 2014, the Observer New Review’s writers and editors have read scores of forthcoming debut novels from authors based in the UK and Ireland in order to spotlight the best; here’s our pick of 2024. As ever, our only guide was the quality of the books in front of us. This year’s list includes industry-tipped titles snapped up by big-spending publishers, but also a canny acquisition from a small independent press. There’s a third book from someone already widely celebrated as a writer of short stories, and even a debut from an actual Observer journalist. These are simply the books we rated most – and we think you’ll love them too.In previous years, we led you to Douglas Stuart’s Booker-winning Shuggie Bain, Gail Honeyman’s global bestseller Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and Sheena Patel’s cult indie hit I’m a Fan. Last year’s picks continue to hoover up honours. Tom Crewe’s The New Life won the Orwell prize for fiction, while Michael Magee (Close to Home) won the Rooney prize, awarded to an outstanding Irish writer under 40. Both writers are on the shortlist for this month’s Nero debut fiction prize, along with Stephen Buoro, another of our 2023 picks.I’d take the washing up shifts no one else wanted so I could be at the back, jotting things downThere’s violence, but it’s about... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-01-14 07:00:20 UTC ]
The following story was chosen by Ottessa Moshfegh as the winner of the 2025 Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize. The prize is awarded annually by Selected Shorts and a guest author judge. This story will be performed by an actor this spring. To hear more great short stories performed... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2025-05-28 11:10:00 UTC ]
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The author and activist, who was subject to a fatwa in 2000, has won the prestigious prize for translated fiction for her short stories about the lives of Muslim women. She and her translator Deepa Bhasthi explain how Heart Lamp’s themes ‘are universal’• ‘Radical translation’ of Heart Lamp by... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-05-23 12:00:30 UTC ]
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Seven queer African creative works you should know about, from short stories to music videos. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2025-05-15 13:05:42 UTC ]
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One of the first Iranian novelists to write in English, she examined the clash between East and West. Her debut novel, “Foreigner,” provided insight into pre-revolutionary Iran. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2025-05-14 17:24:42 UTC ]
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The Best American Series is a literary institution. But just in case you’re stumbling upon it for the first time: Each book in the annual series showcases of best short fiction and nonfiction in a given year, from short stories to essays, science and nature writing, to food writing. Each... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-14 13:00:31 UTC ]
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My last Lit Hub conversation with Karen E. Bender was in 2018, just before her collection The New Order was published. She mentioned that she read John Cheever’s short stories in graduate school: “Cheever’s sentences just made my brain light up. He packs more into a paragraph—about love,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-05-13 08:58:28 UTC ]
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In this interview, author Clea Young discusses the difference in inspiration between a novel and short stories with her new collection, Welcome to the Neighbourhood. The post Clea Young: Allow Yourself Fallow Periods To Recharge appeared first on Writer's Digest. Continue reading at Writer's Digest
[ Writer's Digest | 2025-05-07 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Mavis Gallant’s short stories are about people, especially women, who prefer to live on the social margins. I cherish one of them most of all. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2025-05-03 13:00:00 UTC ]
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While the novel remains a high-status cultural form, video game writing is still seen as a throwaway art – despite some of the biggest names in fiction being involvedI’ve been working in games for a little more than 15 years, and the main thing I’d say about it at this point is that it’s a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2025-04-30 08:00:17 UTC ]
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A powerhouse of the genre, she published around 100 short stories and 17 novels, one of which was adapted into the acclaimed film “The Lady Vanishes.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2025-04-17 22:03:17 UTC ]
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Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel literature laureate and a giant of Latin American letters for decades, has died, his son said Sunday. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2025-04-14 02:33:00 UTC ]
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April’s 10 best books range from short stories set in LA to a climate-change novel to a reappraisal of the American Revolution and its effects on other countries. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2025-04-11 10:00:14 UTC ]
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Crystal Maldonado, Julie Murphy, and other authors discuss the importance of joyful representation. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-04-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Influential novelists are imagining what women’s lives might look like without the demands of partners and children. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2025-04-04 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Mohr, who translated such German novelists as Alina Bronsky, chronicled the Berlin music scene in a 2018 book, and helped bring to life a number of musicians’ memoirs, died at his home in Brooklyn on March 31. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-04-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Mohr, who translated such German novelists as Alina Bronsky, chronicled the Berlin music scene in a 2018 book, and helped bring to life a number of musicians’ memoirs, died at his home in Brooklyn on March 31. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-04-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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