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 ]
Jocelyn Nicole Johnson, a schoolteacher-turned-author, talks about her short story collection, 'My Monticello,' race, Charlottesville and Jan. 6. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-10-05 14:00:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Novelists Paula Hawkins, Graham Norton and Alex Wheatle are among the authors writing short, accessible titles for the Quick Reads literacy programme for 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-26 23:05:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this
From the magazine’s archive: a selection of short stories and nonfiction from the magazine that have been adapted into films. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2021-09-26 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
One very short story – often attributed to Ernest Hemingway but actually the work of another writer – is just six words long: ‘For sale: baby shoes, never worn’. And some of the greatest fiction-writers of the last two centuries have written memorable short stories which stretch to little more […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-09-25 14:00:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Shaky Town is a tough and beautiful mural of a novel constructed with interwoven short stories that explore the streets of East Los Angeles in the 1980s. The post Grace and Oblivion in the Forgotten Neighborhoods of ‘Shaky Town’ appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2021-09-23 10:00:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Novelists Nadia Hashimi and Helen Benedict join hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the mistakes American writers and culture made in depicting the United States’ wars Iraq and Afghanistan. In the wake of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and President Biden’s decision to pull US... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-23 08:49:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this
For nearly every type of book, the physical book is not the thing we admire. The merit is situated outside the paper and glue. A novel, collection of short stories, memoir, gathering of poems, all create a story—whatever that may mean—in a reader’s head. A cookbook creates a fine meal upon a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-23 08:49:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Struggling to read more but just can’t find the time? Well, Brooklyn’s Center for Fiction may have the solution (for free!). The staff at the not-for-profit is curating short stories for NYC’s first Short Story Dispenser, which is scheduled to be in commission starting October 2nd. Visitors to... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-22 18:38:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Don Hollway’s new novel is a fast-paced saga based on the life of Harald Hardrada, the 11th-century Norse adventurer Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-22 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Haruki Murakami is a collector: of vinyl records, T-shirts, and short stories (ha ha ha). He’s donated his collection of over 10,000 vinyl records to Waseda University, but keeps his T-shirts in cardboard boxes at his home. According to Murakami, his collection came about somewhat by accident:... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-21 16:25:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The author of The Fortune Men will now compete with five other novelists from South Africa, Sri Lanka and the US for the 2021 awardAlex Clark explores how the Booker shortlist tunes in to the worries of our ageJust one British author has made the shortlist for this year’s Booker prize: Nadifa... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-09-14 15:25:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this
‘A Sound of Thunder’ is one of the best-known short stories by the American writer Ray Bradbury (1920-2012). A time-travel story about how changing the past could bring about momentous and catastrophic changes to the future, ‘A Sound of Thunder’ is often taught and studied in schools and remains... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-09-11 14:00:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this
‘Jane Austen and Shelley in the Garden’ whisks readers to Cambridge, Wales and Venice, in the company of a delightful gang of scholars. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-10 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A new collection, ‘O. Henry: 100 Stories,’ demonstrates the allure of this masterful story writer Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-09-08 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
From the acclaimed author of novels and short stories, 'Harrow' is a magnificent, moving story about people picking up the pieces of apocalypse. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-09-07 13:00:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The story of the First World War has been told in fiction, film, and television many times since the Great War began in 1914. Previously, we gathered together some of the best poems about the First World War, but what about the novels and short stories that have been written? […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-09-02 14:00:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The late Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s collection of short stories, The City of Mist, has gone to Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-31 06:33:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this
‘A Country Doctor’ is one of the best-known and most widely studied short stories by Franz Kafka (1883-1924). This short story, which Kafka wrote during the winter of 1916-17, tells of a country doctor who makes a visit to a nearby village to tend to a sick boy, but the […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-08-28 14:00:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Libia Brenda, Hannah Onoguwe, and Vandana Singh recommend two short stories and a poem that can help you think differently about climate change. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2021-08-27 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Though his novels and short stories — published over six decades, beginning in 1934 — are set in an older, more decorous America, he grapples with themes that feel shockingly contemporary. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-08-23 17:02:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this