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 ]
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘The Fly’ is not one of the best-known short stories of the New Zealand-born writer Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), but it is significant for being one of her few stories which deals directly with the First World War. In the story, a man is reminded […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2023-08-21 14:00:52 UTC ]
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Mysteries from China, short stories from the Balkans, a French-Morrocan autobiography and more. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2023-08-17 13:31:43 UTC ]
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By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘Happiness’ is a poem by the American writer Raymond Carver (1938-88). Carver is probably best-known for his short stories, especially the anthology favourite ‘What We Talk about When We Talk about Love’, but he was also a gifted poet, and his poetry... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2023-08-12 14:00:47 UTC ]
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In this post-Fleabag world, publishing has become obsessed with the inner turmoils of messy millennials – but isn’t it time they pulled themselves together? Meet the novelists subverting the clichesYou’ve probably come across this woman: she is unfulfilled in her career, has been abandoned by at... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-08 15:19:43 UTC ]
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The freshly announced “Booker’s dozen” of titles longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize is making its way around the literary internet, so let’s see what the morning tides have brought in. There are four debut novelists on the list, and Irish writers nabbed a record four out of the 13 nominations... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-01 14:43:06 UTC ]
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The short stories in Jamel Brinkley's second collection, 'Witness,' don't just reveal stories of violence, gentrification and racism — they put you inside them. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-08-01 13:00:50 UTC ]
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Previously nominated authors Sebastian Barry, Tan Twan Eng and Paul Murray join 13-strong field including four debuts• Irish writers, debuts – and groundbreaking sci-fi: the Booker longlist in depthA longlist of 13 “original and thrilling” books offering “startling portraits of the current” are... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-01 08:00:00 UTC ]
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Here is the best new Korean literature in translation, from science fiction like Counterweight by Djuna and translated by Anton Hur to literary fiction, short stories, and poetry. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-07-27 10:30:00 UTC ]
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The Beauty and Importance of Our Names: A Conversation with Yejide Kilanko, by Darlington Chibueze Anuonye Interviews [email protected] Mon, 07/24/2023 - 09:09 Photo by Oluwafikunmi KilankoAmong the shortlisted short stories for this year’s edition... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-07-24 14:09:47 UTC ]
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They interrupt narrative and disrupt plot – no wonder novelists have been slow to warm to mobile phones. But a new generation is putting technology at the heart of their workWhat do you call a phone when it rings in a fictional world? “Mobile” and “cell” are old, “smartphone” is almost a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-22 10:00:09 UTC ]
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Stories Are All about Taking up Space: A Conversation with Ekemini Pius, by Darlington Chibueze Anuonye Interviews [email protected] Thu, 07/20/2023 - 15:08 Photo by Offlong EkpenyongThe first week of July, the Caine Prize for African Writing... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2023-07-20 20:08:39 UTC ]
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Ask ChatGPT about comedian Sarah Silverman’s memoir “The Bedwetter” and the artificial intelligence chatbot can come up with a detailed synopsis of every part of the book Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2023-07-12 22:32:35 UTC ]
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Ask ChatGPT about comedian Sarah Silverman’s memoir “The Bedwetter” and the artificial intelligence chatbot can come up with a detailed synopsis of every part of the book Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2023-07-12 22:32:31 UTC ]
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I was surprised to read this morning that Milan Kundera, the eminent Czech novelist best known for The Unbearable Lightness of Being, died yesterday at the age of 94. Mainly because I thought he was already dead. For a generation of literary types (Gen X in particular), Kundera was the cool,... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-12 15:34:43 UTC ]
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Just five months after Anthropic debuted its ChatGPT rival, Claude, the company is back with an updated version that promises longer answers, more detailed reasonings, fewer hallucinations and generally better performance. It also now scores in the 90th percentile of graduate school applicants... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-11 16:00:53 UTC ]
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Literary Hub is pleased to reveal the cover for Marrying Friends, the forthcoming collection of short stories from Mary Rechner, which will be published by Propeller Books in October. Here’s a bit about the book from the publisher: When her troubled husband dies unexpectedly, mercurial Therese... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-11 15:00:43 UTC ]
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It’s back and here to ruin our savings and increase the gadgets in our homes. Yes, Amazon Prime Day isn’t entirely about headphones, tablets and wearables, but for Engadget staff… well, it feels like it is. Prime Day deals on tech are typically only matched by Black Friday and Cyber Monday... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-11 11:15:13 UTC ]
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Sarah Silverman is suing OpenAI. On Friday, the comedian and author, alongside novelists Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey, filed a pair of complaints against OpenAI and Meta (via Gizmodo). The group alleges the firms trained their large language models on copyrighted materials, including... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-07-10 17:53:22 UTC ]
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Author of a series of comic novels that focused on the tragi-comic nature of relationships and the general absurdities of lifeMavis Cheek, who has died aged 75, was the author of a series of comic novels that cast an acute eye on middle-class marriage and relationships and marked her out as one... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-07-04 16:07:50 UTC ]
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By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘Mexican Movies’ is a short story from Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories, a 1991 collection of short stories by the American writer Sandra Cisneros (born 1954). In the story, a young Chicana girl describes going to her local movie theatre to... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2023-07-03 14:00:35 UTC ]
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