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 founder and editor of literary magazine Strong Words on his appetite for tales of financial chicanery and why he won’t be returning to Jane AustenEd Needham is the editor of Strong Words, a magazine about books that he writes and edits on his own from his flat in Camden Town, a feat that has... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-10-05 17:00:51 UTC ]
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In the 1950s and ’60s, Mr. Conner’s art helped sell airlines and overalls and accompanied short stories in The Saturday Evening Post and elsewhere. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-10-03 21:16:21 UTC ]
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Petina Gappah’s “Out of Darkness, Shining Light” is the latest example of a new generation of African novelists reinventing historical fiction. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-10-03 17:21:24 UTC ]
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Petina Gappah’s “Out of Darkness, Shining Light” is the latest example of a new generation of African novelists reinventing historical fiction. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-10-03 17:21:00 UTC ]
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Petina Gappah’s “Out of Darkness, Shining Light” is the latest example of a new generation of African novelists reinventing historical fiction. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2019-10-03 17:21:00 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury has acquired Irish writer Louise Kennedy’s debut collection of short stories and her first novel in a "fiercely contested" nine-way bidding war, ahead of this month’s Frankfurt Book Fair. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-02 22:07:05 UTC ]
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In 2012, a colleague and I decided to curate an interview series for the website where we then worked; we boldly and cleverly titled said series The Future of American Fiction. Yes, imagine it in (internet) lights. Per the title, we asked a handful of young and formally or thematically... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-30 08:48:58 UTC ]
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In part 3 of "steal these screenwriting secrets," we delve into marketing and query letters. In other words, these are screenwriting secrets to steal after you write and specifically related to crafting killer query letters. The post Psst: Novelists – Steal These Screenwriting Secrets! Part 3... Continue reading at Writer's Digest
[ Writer's Digest | 2019-09-30 01:46:56 UTC ]
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The 2019 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature's 15-title longlist includes seven debut novelists and was chosed from 90 submissions this year. The post DSC Prize for South Asian Literature Releases Its Longlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-09-27 11:30:31 UTC ]
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IF YOU ASK a group of crime novelists to list the most exciting stylists working today, Jamie Mason’s name is bound to come up. In many thrillers, the language is workmanlike — plain, even. The suspense is the point; the sentences are the delivery system. In Jamie’s books, however, the words... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2019-09-22 19:00:08 UTC ]
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10 novelists make the National Book Awards fiction longlist: Laila Lalami, Colson Whitehead, Ocean Vuong, Julia Phillips and more. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-09-20 18:20:50 UTC ]
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The collection of short stories reads almost like an assemblage of “Twilight Zone” episodes. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2019-09-20 15:24:51 UTC ]
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First, can we all agree that it should be “lit-fluencer”? Moving on: 1. “Gertrude Stein had time to read books. But do moms?” 2. “Owens’s dinner will be in a decidedly lower key: a gingham tablecloth, uniformed servers passing out pigs in blankets, Zibby’s kids popping in occasionally to whisper... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-17 19:31:52 UTC ]
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Interviews Renee H. Shea Monique Truong / Photo © Haruka Sakaguchi Monique Truong, who came to the United States in 1975 as a refugee from Vietnam, began exploring untold and ignored histories in her first novel, The Book of Salt (2003), told through... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2019-09-17 13:54:26 UTC ]
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HQ has scooped a short story collection including eight "lost" stories by acclaimed Harlem Renaissance author Zora Neale Hurston. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-13 13:50:04 UTC ]
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Contemporary Short Stories from MyanmarIn 2017 the British Council produced an anthology of short stories from Myanmar. In 2012 the British Council sought to take advantage of new freedoms in literature and travel through a programme of workshops. The aim of the five-year literature... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2019-09-10 08:55:33 UTC ]
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The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories edited by Jhumpa Lahiri, is available now. * What was the genesis of this anthology? Three years ago, I began teaching creative writing at Princeton. I had just returned from Italy, where I had lived in Rome with my family for three years. During that... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-10 08:46:32 UTC ]
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Lowborn by Kerry HudsonKerry Hudson is best known for her award-winning fiction. Her first book, Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma, won the Scottish First Book Award and earned her a place on the Granta Best of Young British Novelists list. Her latest book, Lowborn,... Continue reading at British Council global
[ British Council global | 2019-08-30 08:51:45 UTC ]
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How The Handmaid’s Tale keeps going, with Margaret Atwood, Ann Dowd, and novelists Louise Erdrich and Megan Hunter. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2019-08-29 21:00:04 UTC ]
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Jane Austen’s House Museum has saved a section of a letter by Jane Austen after “an outpouring of generosity from the public” saw £10,000 raised in six weeks. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-08-21 07:48:21 UTC ]
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