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 ]
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Author Ben Wilson talks to the BBC's Nick Higham about his book charting the British Navy's history Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2013-07-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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New documents published in The Guardian reveal that the NSA can snoop on you in real time--and that the agency is building a giant keyword-based database of everything connected to the Internet, including Word and Excel docs on users' hard drives. Sometimes life seems a lot like dystopian... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2013-07-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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South Korea's Paju Bookcity is unique in the world: home to some 200 publishing companies and 10,000 publishing professionals, mere miles from the North Korea border. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author David Mitchell and his wife K.A. Yoshida have translated the Japanese memoir The Reason I Jump into English, by then 13-year-old autistic Naoki Higashida. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-07-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A list titled LibraryReads will be created monthly by libraries all over the country, compiling 10 picks that staff members would choose for the reading public. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-07-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hogarth announces The Hogarth Shakespeare: new prose versions of Shakespeare's plays, retold by bestselling novelists from around the world. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-06-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Shakespeare's plays will become contemporary novels, as the transatlantic Hogarth Press, an imprint of Random House, has announced it is commissioning prominent writers to adapt the Elizabethan plays.Shakespeare’s plays will become contemporary novels, as the transatlantic Hogarth Press, an... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2013-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A general meeting to discuss plans for CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Librarians and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A group of leading publishers and editors from around the world have met with the Thai Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, to discuss how a free press could be the cornerstone of a flourishing Thai democracy. Twenty-two publishers and editors eng ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2013-06-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Book sales in Bulgaria were up 10% in 2012, with publishers reporting more than 5,000 books were published the previous year, of which 1,500 were translations. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A husband-and-wife bookselling team have described handing a petition into Downing Street calling... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Debut novelist Taiye Selasi, whose tale of a fractured family Ghana Must Go was published by... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The most-challenged book series of 2012 was the 'Captain Underpants' books by Dav Pilkey. Former list-toppers 'ttyl' and 'The Hunger Games' are missing from the list entirely. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Newsmodo, the new online platform designed to bring journalists and publishers together, is meeting with British news publishers this week ahead of its global launch. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2013-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In addition to being a master writer, celebrated American poet Robert Frost was also a master reader. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-04-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Independent publisher Accent Press has signed a 10-book deal with crime author Jean G Goodhind... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It is one of the eccentricities of American publishing that James Salter has not been widely embraced as a great writer. His books are as good as those of post-war novelists like John Updike, Philip Roth, Richard Ford, and critics have often said so, and yet he is nowhere near as beloved or... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2013-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Even though books are what our public has traditionally wanted most—and what librarians do best—public libraries have never been content to just circulate books or other media. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Two of crime's biggest names will work together for the first time next year when Peter James... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Pearson/Penguin group and Hachette have each notched up 10 nominations for the 2013... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2013-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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