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 ]
From Sally Rooney to Raven Leilani, female novelists have captured the literary zeitgeist, with more buzz, prizes and bestsellers than men. But is this cultural shift something to celebrate or rectify?In March, Vintage, one of the UK’s largest literary fiction divisions, announced the five debut... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-05-16 06:00:48 UTC ]
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Two big novelists take sharp turns in new books: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie mourns in "Notes on Grief"; Jhumpa Lahiri writes a novel, "Whereabouts," in Italian. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-04-30 14:00:38 UTC ]
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‘The Lost Decade’ is one of the shortest works by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940), the American author best-known for The Great Gatsby. Published in Esquire magazine in December 1939, just one year before Fitzgerald died, ‘The Lost Decade’ is one of his most powerful short stories to deal with... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-04-17 14:00:20 UTC ]
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Novelists no longer shy away from tough issues readers are facing such as mental illness, racial inequity, sexual harassment and abuse, trafficking, and domestic violence. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-04-09 04:00:00 UTC ]
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This excellent cradle-to-grave biography of a much loved novelist who goes in and out of fashion captures her alarming habits and tormented love affairsIn 1971 the author Barbara Pym was at her day job at the International African Institute when she noticed “Mr C” laboriously attacking his... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-04-08 06:30:07 UTC ]
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Japanese writer Haruki Murakami offers a collection of imaginative short stories with skewed elements that his many fans are sure to applaud. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2021-04-06 22:11:04 UTC ]
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The Folio Society‘s latest publication is a massive edition of all 118 of Philip K. Dick’s short stories, presented in this shockingly bright four-volume set. Their edition of The Complete Short Stories was designed by independent studio La Boca and includes original artworks commissioned from... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-04-06 18:04:35 UTC ]
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Last year, when New York City was the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in America, Bradley Tusk and Howard Wolfson decided to create a new annual award, the Gotham Book Prize, as part of an effort to “honor New York City and support the novelists who best captured the spirit of our city,” as... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-04-06 13:00:34 UTC ]
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The Book Riot New Release Index allows book lovers to view ALL upcoming book releases in one centralized place. Learn more now! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-04-01 10:33:00 UTC ]
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Lit Lists Earlier this spring, the editors of WLT invited twenty-one writers to nominate one book, published since the year 2000, that has had a major influence on their own work, along with a brief statement explaining their choice. Now it’s your turn... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-03-31 20:04:23 UTC ]
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Dubliners is a collection of 15 short stories written by James Joyce and published in 1914. As we’ve remarked before, Dubliners is now regarded as one of the landmark texts of modernist literature, but initially sales were poor, with just 379 copies being sold in the first year (famously, 120 […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-03-27 15:50:27 UTC ]
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“You Made Me Love You” collects short stories from throughout Wideman’s acclaimed career. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-03-26 20:23:09 UTC ]
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“By relearning his grandmother’s old style of storytelling, Márquez began telling a story unlike any before.” Angus Fletcher on what Gabriel García Márquez understood about rediscovery. | Lit Hub Criticism Are climate change novels a form of activism? Seven novelists weigh in, including Pitchaya... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-24 09:30:49 UTC ]
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This year marks the sixth anniversary of the 2015 Paris Agreement, an international accord that marks the first time nearly every nation on Earth promised to tackle the climate crisis. The goals set by that agreement, however, have not been met. As the climate crisis worsens, more novelists than... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-03-24 08:53:41 UTC ]
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Whether it’s vampires or werewolves or mysterious patterns in wallpaper, writers of Gothic short stories have used all sorts of horrors and frights to chill our blood, ever since the horror short story developed in the early nineteenth century. Below, we pick ten of the very best Gothic horror... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-03-18 15:00:00 UTC ]
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Short, fun erotic short stories that will leave you wanting more! Check out the best erotic short stories that you need to pick ASAP. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-03-05 11:35:00 UTC ]
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‘The Minister’s Black Veil’ is one of the best-known and most widely studied short stories written by the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Subtitled ‘A Parable’, the story originally appeared in a gift book titled The Token and Atlantic Souvenir in 1836, before being collected in Hawthorne’s... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2021-02-27 15:00:46 UTC ]
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At the Guardian, Kazuo Ishiguro discusses his newest book, Klara and the Sun, and how this latest offering echoes themes and ideas he has often explored in his previous work. “Literary novelists are slightly defensive about being repetitive,” Ishiguro says. “I think it is perfectly justified:... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2021-02-26 21:30:38 UTC ]
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I also love the way that surreality and exaggeration can work in short stories in ways that they don’t often in novels. The wilder the conceit, the harder it is to sustain, like it’s rocket fuel. The post Resisting the Easy Impulse: Te-Ping Chen in Conversation with Brenda Peynado appeared first... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2021-02-26 10:59:07 UTC ]
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“Like so many women novelists of previous centuries, Yezierska’s canonical status is a phenomenon of the recent past.” Catherine Rottenberg on the overdue revival of Anzia Yezierska. | Lit Hub Fashion isn’t frivolous: Francesca Granata recommends books central to our understanding of femininity,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-26 10:30:02 UTC ]
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