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 shortlist for this year’s Orwell Prize for books includes Alan Johnson’s This Boy... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Charles Moore's prize-winning biography of Margaret Thatcher has been longlisted for the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-03-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
We last heard from Elizabeth Spencer more than a decade ago. In 1998 she published a memoir, Landscapes of the Heart, followed in 2001 by a “greatest hits” roundup of her novellas and short stories, The Southern Woman, which was followed by a quiet 12 years. One could be forgiven the thought... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2014-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Claiming famous artists operated under the auspices of modern scientific thought ignores what art is all about."Art does not have winners." This is the argument William Deresiewicz makes as he skewers political scientist Michael Suk-Young Chwe's latest book, Jane Austen, Game Theorist in The New... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2014-01-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
In 'Creature,' Amina Cain presents personal tales of female characters at loose ends.The peril of reading literary short stories is that one tends to encounter characters who behave not like you or me but like the kind of people one finds only in short stories. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-11-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Novelist Scott Turow's 'Identical' is a compulsively readable crime story about brothers, feuding families and a long-ago murder.Over the course of nine novels, Scott Turow's Kindle County has become one the best-known settings in American literature. While fictional locations are not uncommon... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The first Canadian winner, Alice Munro has published nothing but short stories in a 50-year career. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald
[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The first Canadian winner, Alice Munro has published nothing but short stories in a 50-year career. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald
[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The good news: According to a new report from the National Endowment for the Arts, more than half of American adults read books for pleasure in 2012.The good news: According to a new report from the National Endowment for the Arts, more than half of American adults read books for pleasure in... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
'Eat, Pray, Love' author Elizabeth Gilbert plunges into historical fiction with a creative passion in the novel 'The Signature of All Things.'With a charming, flawed heroine straight out of Jane Austen, a Dickensian rags-to-riches story and thwarted romances that hark back to the Brontës,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Many of novelist Stephen King's books and short stories have found their way to the screen either through a movie or mini-series. Some, like The Shining, have become classics in the eyes of fans, while others...well... This season a King novel has returned the author to prominence on the small... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2013-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
China's Douban is experimenting with crowdsourced translations of English literature, including SF and short stories by David Mitchell. Can it help authors enter the market? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Orwell Book Prize for political writing is won by AT Williams for his book on Baha Mousa, while Marie Colvin is honoured with a posthumous award. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Author Raja Shehadeh is in the running to win the Orwell Prize for a second time, with Random... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Steve Jobs biography published again, this time as a manga comic...sans superpowers or one shred of lycra. Walter Isaacson's official Steve Jobs biography is a heck of a read, but if the idea of trawling through lots of dead-tree text galls your inner geek, then you'll love the fact it's now... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Amazon's Little A imprint will release novels, memoirs, and story collections, while Day One will focus on short stories and new writers. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
One collection of short stories and four novels—including Jeet Thayyil’s Narcopolis, winner of the DSC Prize—have been shortlisted for The Hindu Literary Prize. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Transworld has acquired a novel which gives a new perspective to the story of Jane Austen's... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Eoin Colfer has been named as the author of the first of Puffin's eleven Dr Who short stories... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-01-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Literary events organiser Book Slam is releasing its second book of short stories, with... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this