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 ]
Tickets to actor Tom Hanks' only event in the UK to promote his new collection of short stories, Uncommon Type (William Heinemann), have sold out in under two hours. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
From Matt Haig’s How to Stop Time to Gail Honeyman’s Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, the empathetic literature inspired by a year of tragedies, political upheaval and economic uncertaintyA bruising year dominated by political and economic uncertainty, terrorism and tragedy has, publishers... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Bodleian Library's publishing arm is set to release a collection of Jane Austen's letters which will provide "intimate glimpses" into her life after moving to Bath, aged 25. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Faber is to publish Sleep No More, a new collection of short stories from the late "Queen of Crime" P D James. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Authors and artists including Margaret Atwood, Hilary Mantel and Quentin Blake have created one-off, hand-written responses to Jane Austen to be auctioned in aid of the Royal Society of Literature. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
These literary gems are proof that good things come in small packages. How many classic short stories have you read? How much do you know about their authors? Take our quiz and find out. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2017-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A first novel that was at the heart of a fierce auction before the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2015 lives up to the hype, says Alice O’Keeffe. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Dylan Thomas Prize is unusual for its flexibility. The shortlist includes a book of poetry, two books of short stories, plus novels—two of them debuts. The post Dylan Thomas Shortlist of Authors 39 or Younger: UK, US, Australia, Sri Lanka appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-03-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
PRH authors Naomi Alderman and Hisham Matar have been longlisted for this year's Orwell Prize for Books, a £3,000 prize celebrating "the most compelling" political writing of 2016. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Crime fiction festival CrimeFest will release an anthology of short stories next year to mark its 10th anniversary, with new stories from contributors including Ian Rankin, Lee Child, Sophie Hannah and Ann Cleeves. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Cornerstone imprint William Heinemann is publishing a collection of short stories from actor Tom Hanks, anticipated to be a "major publishing event" for PRH this autumn. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Particular Books, an imprint of Penguin Press, is publishing a crowd-funded feminist storybook, Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls, comprising 100 tales of "extraordinary women" from around the globe, including Michelle Obama and Jane Austen. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-01-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Sandstone Press will publish Jane and Dorothy: A True Tale of Sense and Sensibility by Marian Veevers, linking to the bicentenary of Austen’s death in July 2017. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Think you know everything about Jane Austen? Helena Kelly invites you to think again about one of the nation’s favourite authors in Jane Austen, The Secret Radical. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Three short stories by the queen of Regency romance have been discovered by her biographer and are being reprinted in a new volumeA trio of forgotten stories by the queen of Regency romance Georgette Heyer have been uncovered by her biographer and are due to be published, for the first time in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Little, Brown imprint Corsair has acquired Difficult Women, a collection of short stories by US writer Roxane Gay, for publication in January 2017. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
This week, it emerged that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies author Seth Grahame-Smith was being sued by his publisher to return his advance. From Julian Assange to Amy Schumer, he isn’t alone...Though he’s fallen out spectacularly with his publisher, Seth Grahame-Smith at least has the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Actress-turned-author Lena Dunham is trying her hand at writing fiction as she prepares to release a collection of short stories next year. Continue reading at Stuff
[ Stuff | 2016-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Daughter of Odren will be published in new omnibus edition of the much-loved fantasy sequence to mark the 50th anniversary of The Wizard of EarthseaA story from Ursula K Le Guin’s world of Earthsea that has never been published in print before is due to be released to mark the 50th... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In addition to his achievement in the literary world, Matthew Evans, Lord Evans of Temple Guiting, had a decisive impact on the work of regional museums. In 2000, in an imaginative move by Chris Smith, then secretary of state for culture, media and sport, Matthew was asked to chair a reformed... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-07-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this