I enjoy discovering new book prizes which highlight literature from different angles. The Portico Prize celebrates all forms of writing including fiction, non-fiction and poetry which “evoke the spirit of the North”. But only one book will be awarded the prize and £10,000 on January 23rd 2020. It’s a biennial prize based in the Portico Library in Manchester and presented in association with Manchester Metropolitan University. In fact, it’s not a new prize as it ran from 1985-2015 but has been on hiatus for the past few years. Past winners have included biographers, historians and novelists such as Jenny Uglow, Anthony Burgess, Val McDermid, Sarah Hall and Benjamin Myers for his fantastic novel “Beastings”.
I was very excited to see the shortlist announced this morning as a number of the books are ones I’ve been wanting to read and I always find book prizes give me a good excuse to put those tempting titles at the top of my TBR pile. Earlier this year I heard author Jessica Andrews read from and discuss her debut novel “Saltwater” and I’ve been very intrigued to read it since then. It’s about a young woman from a working-class neighbourhood in Sunderland who starts university in London and finds the city isn’t what she expected. “The Mating Habits of Stags” by Ray Robinson has been sitting on my shelves since it was published earlier this year. The novel’s intriguing plot revolves around a former farmhand in his seventies who is on a quest for revenge. It’s also an especially beautifully presented book!
Former winner Benjamin Myers is shortlisted again this year for his new non-fiction title “Under the Rock: The Poetry of a Place”. The author makes a personal exploration of an area called Scout Rock in West Yorkshire. I’ve also been longing to get to this book since I’ve had a desire to read more nature writing having recently read and loved “Underland” which won The Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize earlier this year. Myers has also been especially busy since his excellent novel “The Offing” was also published this year. Another novel I’ve been intending to read since it was first published last year is Glen James Brown’s debut “Ironopolis” which follows the changes that come to a housing development in North East England over three generations. This book was also shortlisted for the inaugural Orwell Prize for Political Fiction earlier this year. I just started reading it this morning and I’m already hooked.
The six authors shortlisted for this year’s Portico Prize
The final two shortlisted books are the novel “Black Teeth and a Brilliant Smile” by Adelle Stripe and the non-fiction “The Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness” by Graham Caveney. If I have time I’ll be keen to read these as well. But I’ve also been reading more poetry this year and two books of poetry which were longlisted for this year’s Portico Prize are “Zebra” by Ian Humphreys and “Us” by Zaffar Kunial. So I’m hoping to make time for these as well. In any case, it’s great to have a set of fantastic looking books to explore over the holiday break and I’ll be keen to see which title is awarded the prize in late January.
Let me know your thoughts on any of these books if you’ve read them or which books on the list you’re keen to read now.
