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 ]
Penguin is releasing a boxed set of its Little Black Classics set (3rd September, £80). The set will include all 80 of the titles that were released in February to celebrate Penguin’s 80th anniversary, each priced at 80p and comprising of 64 pages. The list featured less well known titles by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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We asked you what three authors you'd take to your desert island. You said William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Stephen King. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-08-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writer Jane Gardam is to be awarded the Charles-Chichester Award for a Lifetime's Excellence in Short Fiction at a special event held at this year's Charleston Small Wonder Short Story Festival. Gardam, who is the author of short stories as well as novels including the Old Filth trilogy, will... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Welsh writer Carys Davies [pictured] has won the €25,000 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award for her collection The Redemption of Galen Pike, published by the independent Salt Publishing. The award is the single most lucrative prize in the world for a collection of short... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Short stories are gaining ground in the UK, but authors working within the format are finding it more difficult to break into the public consciousness than novelists, writers have told The Bookseller. Awards that cover all forms of fiction such as The Folio Prize, won in 2014 by George... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From Jane Austen's white soup to a liver mousse inspired by 'Silence of the Lambs,' butcher and writer Cara Nicoletti explores recipes inspired by classic and contemporary book. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Meek's Private Island (Verso Books) has won the Orwell Prize for books, which celebrates political writing. Meek was announced as the winner of the annual prize at a ceremony at the University of Westminster yesterday (21st May). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Serpent's Tail has signed two books from Orange Prize-winner Valerie Martin, a novel and a collection of short stories. Commissioning editor Rebecca Gray signed UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Peter Straus at RCW, on behalf of Molly Friedrich at the Friedrich Agency. Short... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two début authors have made the shortlists for this year’s Orwell Prize for political writing. Dan Davies has made the £3,000 Book Prize shortlist for his book about Jimmy Savile, In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile (Quercus). The other first-time writer on the list is Louisa Lim,... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has acquired a book of short stories by Daisy Johnson at auction. Editorial director Alex Bowler signed UK and Commonwealth rights to two books by Johnson from Jack Ramm at Eve White Literary Agency. Johnson is a 24-year-old prizewinning graduate of Oxford University’s Fiction... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Margaret Atwood's first stand-alone novel in 15 years will be published in September, alongside a new collection of short stories. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2015-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Catherine Aird has been awarded the Crime Writer’s Association Diamond Dagger award. The Diamond Dagger winner is chosen by the CWA committee from a shortlist of writers judged worthy by their peers. Shortlisted authors must have sustained excellence in their careers and made a significant... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Granta Books editor Anne Meadows has acquired a “darkly funny, whip-smart” novel and a collection of short stories from Catherine Lacey, whose debut novel Nobody is Ever Missing will be published - also by Granta - this week. Meadows acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, including Australia New... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Macmillan is to publish a collection of short stories by television and radio presenter Sir Terry Wogan. Editorial director Trisha Jackson acquired UK & Commonwealth Rights from Luigi Bonomi at LBA. Jackson said: “I’ve been a huge fan of Terry’s for many years and these incredibly... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Last year the book trade “rekindled its love affair with the physical book”, Pan Macmillan’s m.d Anthony Forbes Watson has told The Bookseller. “Previous years have all been about growing ebook sales, but in 2014, in a market where ebook sales were plateauing, suddenly it was all about forward... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booktrust and the BBC have launched a short story competition for teenagers. The ‘BBC Young Writers’ Award with Booktrust’ is for teen writers (aged 14-18) of short stories, on any topic, of up to a 1,000 words. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Irish author Colin Barrett wins the Guardian First Book Award for his debut collection of short stories, Young Skins. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2014-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Short story collection about soldiers struggling in cope with chaos of Iraq war takes top US literary prize, with Ursula K Le Guin honored for lifetime contribution• Redeployment by Phil Klay review – incendiary stories of warA US marines veteran, Phil Klay, has taken home America’s most... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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My romance with Chicken Soup for the Soul began and ended with the adolescent iteration, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, and it was fostered in part because I read it when I was not yet teenaged. There was so much in that book for a 10-year-old to love: the amazing celebrity contributors... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2014-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A short story collection by Kuwaiti author Mai Al-Nakib has won the 2014 Edinburgh International Book Festival’s First Book Award. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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