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 ]
You want a middle-aged woman to run an ultramarathon or start a wellness empire? Can’t I just have a breakdown?There is good news for midlifers, so gird your loins for a flurry of off-brand optimism. Kicking off the list is a new prize for debut novelists over 50. “The reason we launched the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-30 13:00:05 UTC ]
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By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘The Long Rain’ is one of the best-known and most widely studied short stories by the American writer Ray Bradbury (1920-2012). Although Bradbury preferred to describe himself as a ‘fantasy’ writer, this story is most accurately categorised as... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2023-04-28 14:00:00 UTC ]
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Marriage is a key theme in literature, of course: a fact which need hardly surprise us when we reflect that many people spend the majority of their lives married to somebody else. Marriage also touches upon other prominent themes, including love, commitment, having children, lust, conflict, and... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2023-04-26 14:00:21 UTC ]
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First-time novelists are joined by two former winners on the diverse list, as the six ‘ambitious and hard-hitting’ contenders are revealed• ‘We were blown away’: how we chose the Women’s prize shortlistThree debut novels will compete against books by two former winners for this year’s Women’s... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-26 06:30:01 UTC ]
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By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.’ This line is a quotation from one of the most disturbing short stories of the entire twentieth century; but what does it mean? Shirley Jackson’s ‘The Lottery’, published in the New Yorker in 1948, has been read […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2023-04-25 17:00:58 UTC ]
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Hilary Mantel died last September at age 70, but a memorial service just this week revealed something of use to those who miss her words. The Guardian’s Saturday Paper will be publishing excerpts from an unpublished project mashing together Jane Austen’s works. “She was having the greatest fun... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-21 16:03:28 UTC ]
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Jamil Jan Kochai wins the Aspen Words Literary Prize for his short stories focused on the absurdity and violence Afghans have endured. The post Jamil Jan Kochai Wins $35,000 Aspen Words Literary Prize appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-04-20 08:22:53 UTC ]
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Religion is an important feature of many people’s lives, so it shouldn’t surprise us that many writers of short stories have written about religion from various perspectives: the power of superstitious belief, the importance of religious conversion, the cultural role of Christianity, and many... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2023-04-19 14:00:16 UTC ]
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The garlanded short story author will release her next collection solely in bookshops and select independent online outlets to coincide with Bookshop DayPrize-winning author Lydia Davis’ new collection of short stories will not be sold on Amazon, with the author saying she does not “believe... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-19 10:05:07 UTC ]
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Sub-Saharan Africa Literature and Publishing Sector Report As we look to build on our programmes with the literature and publishing sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa, the British Council has commissioned a scoping report into the trade publishing and literature sectors across nine countries in which... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2023-04-17 10:35:15 UTC ]
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In 2013, I was one of the chosen 20. Today, I still question the accolades and gimmickry around making the gradeIn 2013, the fourth Granta Best of Young British Novelists (BYBN) list was published, and I was among the 20 writers selected. I was 39 and had published four novels and received... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-16 10:00:08 UTC ]
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The latest celebration of emerging literary talent brings thrills, charm and emotional punch to the page. But this new generation have taken an inward turn compared with the more worldly themes of bygone yearsEvery decade since 1983, an editor of the literary quarterly Granta has tasked a panel... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-16 06:00:03 UTC ]
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From Kazuo Ishiguro to Zadie Smith, Granta’s list has been spotlighting future stars since 1983. Four decades on, what does its evolution says about our literary landscape?Last month, a reformed Glaswegian gang member, a former personal trainer and a Booker prize winner all glammed up for a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-15 08:00:36 UTC ]
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This week, TIME magazine published its list of the 100 Most Influential People of 2023. And . . . it’s surprisingly literary! I mean, it’s not that literary, but considering that the TIME editors typically limit themselves to a single novelist among the 100, books seem to be coming up in the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-14 15:34:40 UTC ]
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‘My Lucy Friend Who Smells Like Corn’ is the opening story in Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories, a 1991 collection of short stories by the American writer Sandra Cisneros (born 1954). In the story, a young girl describes her friendship with a girl named Lucy, and it emerges that […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2023-04-13 14:00:16 UTC ]
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A new drop of choice up-and-coming novelists has arrived on the morning tide. Granta magazine has announced its 2023 Best of British Novelists list, geared to future stars, including picks from Sigrid Rausing, Rachel Cusk, Helen Oyeyemi, Tash Aw, and Brian Dillon. The team picked a host of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-13 13:57:54 UTC ]
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The journal’s once-in-a-decade selection of the best fiction writers under 40 has broadened its selection of 20 to include authors who ‘regard the UK as their home’Granta magazine’s Best of British Novelists list, which hails the literary stars of the future, has this year expanded to include... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-04-13 07:00:37 UTC ]
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‘When I was put on Granta’s first Best of Young British Novelists list in 1983, no novel of mine had been published.’ The post On Writing ‘Blind Bitter Happiness’ appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta
[ Granta | 2023-04-12 15:52:21 UTC ]
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Hay Festival is the world’s leading festival of ideas across literature, bringing readers and some of the brightest thinkers of our time together to inspire, examine and entertain. This international celebration of literature, music, and the arts is set to take place in the stunning Welsh... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2023-04-11 14:44:07 UTC ]
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A Lesson for Dr. Freud: Dominique Fabre’s Psychoanalysis of the Everyday and Everyman, by Alice-Catherine Carls Book Reviews [email protected] Mon, 04/10/2023 - 15:41 And these things, that live by going away, know that you praise them;... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-04-10 20:41:34 UTC ]
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