The Rathbones Folio Prize 2021 shortlist

It's always exciting to see what books are listed for The Rathbones Folio Prize. This is an award which is shaped by The Folio Academy and its members (who are mainly writers and critics) play a strong role in putting nominees forward for the prize. So it's essentially a book award where writers celebrate what they consider the best new work of their peers. I'm especially keen to peruse this year's shortlist and see which book is selected as the winner on March 24th because the excellent group of judges include poet Roger Robinson, writer and broadcaster Sinead Gleeson and novelist Jon McGregor. I really respect their taste and I've currently read half of the eight books on this shortlist. 

“Indelicacy” by Amina Cain is an original ghostly, feminist fable about a cleaner in a museum who marries a wealthy man and pursues her desire to write. The debut poetry collection “My Darling From the Lions” by Rachel Long was also shortlisted for the most recent Costa Book Awards and I enjoyed the sly sense of humour of these personal and political poems. Carmen Maria Machado's highly inventive memoir “In the Dream House” describes the experience of being in an abusive relationship by recasting it as a fairy tale filled with fantasy, pleasure and horror. The brilliantly imaginative “The Mermaid of Black Conch” by Monique Roffey was the overall winner of this year's Costa Book Awards and it's impressive how this novel works as a fantastical love story as well as a clever reexamination of the history of colonialism in the Caribbean.

I'm also keen to experience the four books I've not read yet. I've been a big fan of both Sara Baume's novels so I'm especially keen to read her most recent book “handiwork” which is a short narrative about the nature of art, grief and a life lived well. Elaine Feeney is another Irish writer on the list whose debut novel “As You Were” concerns a tough, driven and funny property developer with a terrifying secret that she only confides to a shiny magpie. Yet another Irish writer and poet on the list is Doireann Ni Ghriofa whose “A Ghost in the Throat” has become a bestseller in Ireland as it won The Irish Book Awards' 'Book of the Year' and it's also currently on the Republic of Consciousness Prize longlist. Its narrative is a creative blend of memoir and history as it explores how the 18th century poet Eibhlin Dubh Ni Chonaill becomes a haunting presence in the life of a contemporary young mother. Finally, as someone who lives in south London, I'm very eager to read Peckham poet Caleb Femi's debut collection “Poor” which celebrates the lives of young black boys and the architecture that shapes them. You can watch me discuss all these titles more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpg5SNOgTgg

Overall, this is a really fascinating group of books and I'm excited to see which will win on the 24th. An Irish readathon is taking place this month so the group of books I've not read will give me some great inspiration to join in! 

The Young Writer of the Year Award 2020 shortlist

I always enjoy seeing what books are shortlisted for the annual Sunday Times/University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year Award. It gives a snapshot of some of the most exciting emerging British and Irish literary talent. To be eligible, writers need to be 35 or under. Judges for this year's prize include the writers Sebastian Faulks, Tessa Hadley and Kit de Waal. Normally only four authors are listed for the prize, but this year the judges are highlighting five! There are two novels, a memoir and two books of poetry. 

I'm very happy to see Jay Bernard's moving collection “Surge” on the list as it was one of my favourite books that I read last year. These dynamic multi-voiced poems are a response to the New Cross fire of 1981, in which thirteen young black people were killed. I also loved recently reading Naoise Dolan's first novel “Exciting Times”. Dolan was included in the Guardian's '10 Best Debut Novelists of 2020' list in January. The novel brilliantly and hilariously describes a wayward young Irish woman living abroad in Hong Kong who gets mixed up in a complicated love triangle.

I'm very eager to read Sean Hewitt's book as I enjoyed reading his poetry pamphlet “Lantern” last year. The poetry in “Tongues of Fire” contains prayers, hymns, vespers, incantations and longer poems that describe experiences of sex, grief and loss. Earlier this year, I started reading Marina Kemp's debut novel “Nightingale” and kept meaning to go back and finish it. So it being listed for this prize is a great prompt to return to it. The story concerns a young woman who leaves Paris to become a nurse for a tempestuous old man in a sleepy French village. Finally, Catherine Cho's memoir sounds fascinating and powerful as it recounts her experiences on a psychiatric ward after being diagnosed as having a rare form of postpartum psychosis.

The winner will be announced in a digital ceremony on December 10th. Let me know if you've read any of the books on this shortlist or if you're keen to now. 

The 2020 Booker Prize Shortlist

I haven't had the time to read as much from this year's Booker longlist as I normally would. I'm very busy reading lots and lots of books as a judge on the Costa Book Awards, but I have read six novels from the longlist including Hilary Mantel's giant end to her trilogy “The Mirror and the Light”. And what a surprise that this bookies' favourite hasn't made the shortlist! It's a shame in a way as it'd have been exciting for Mantel to be the first author to win the Booker three times. However, the novel certainly doesn't need the attention a book prize can give it as much as some of the other novels on this shortlist – 4 of which are by debut novelists. Equally, Dangarembga and Mengiste are authors who haven't received as much attention as Tyler, McCann or Reid. But, if I consider the novels I think are the most accomplished and my favourites, I'd have picked “The Mirror and the Light” and “Such a Fun Age” over “This Mournable Body” and “Real Life”. 

I'm so happy “Shuggie Bain” made the shortlist and I know it's a popular favourite and probably the most likely novel to win at this point. Of course, I can't really make that judgement yet till I've read all the books from the shortlist. I'm very eager to read “The New Wilderness”, “Burnt Sugar” and “The Shadow King”. I'm torn about whether to give “Real Life” another try as I simply didn't enjoy the first 50 pages I read from the novel. But there are so many competing opinions about it I'm almost curious to try finishing it just to see where I fall in the debate. The winner is currently scheduled to be announced on November 17th (that's later in the year than it's usually announced so more reading time!) but, as we all know, event dates can easily change this year. 

I'll be very interested to know what you think of the list. Let me know in the comments if you've read any of these six novels, what you think of them or which books on the list you're most eager to read. 

I'm Judging a Book Prize!

As many of you know, I enjoy following a lot of book prizes and I'm excited to share with you that I'll be judging a very popular book prize myself this year: The Costa Book Awards. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the format of the Costa Book Awards every year groups of judges select shortlists in five different categories which are Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Literature. I will be a judge in the First Novel category which is great because I love debut fiction and discovering new voices. So I'll be involved in picking a shortlist and a winner for this category. I'm so excited about it, but it's going to be an interesting challenge too because this isn't just about picking my personal favourite book. I've been a judge on a number of book prizes before. They've all been quite different experiences but I've also had some of the richest, most involving discussions about books with fellow prize judges. Towards the end of the process it can get really difficult to choose between very different but equally great books but that's the point of the job. I'll be discussing the submissions with two other judges in my category for the Costas and we need to keep in mind the prize's guidelines. Last year's winner in the First Novel category was Sara Collins' “The Confessions of Frannie Langton” which I absolutely loved.

The guidelines for the prize which I'm keeping in mind while reading is that:

A ‘Costa’ book is a sparkling, eminently readable book with broad commercial appeal. Not esoteric; not so ‘beautifully-written’ that the story and characters got forgotten along the way. Just terrific, intelligent, readable books which (we hope) large numbers of people will want to buy, and read, and recommend to friends.

That's something I think Sara Collins' novel does perfectly and it's a book I've recommended to so many people. So this is a great standard to try to live up to.

I'm already reading some great novels that have been submitted for the prize, but – as you can probably guess – I won't be able to discuss any of the initial submissions here because that wouldn't be fair to the process of the prize or the publishers or authors. I'll still be reading other books over the next few months and publishers send me books all the time so I'll still be reviewing many of these I just won't be able to discuss them in the context of the prize or whether they've been submitted for the prize or not. But, later this year, I'll be very excited to talk about the short list we chose after the announcement is publicly made. And, no doubt, I'll talk about the books listed in all categories because over the years I've read a lot of great books that have been listed for the prize. So last year, in addition to Sarah Collins novel I also loved Mary Jean Chan's collection “Fleche” which was the Poetry category winner and Jack Fairweather's book “The Volunteer” which was the Biography category winner. And this book was also the overall winner of last year's prize because once the five category winners are chosen an overall winner is picked as well. (I won't be involved in this final process, but it'll be very exciting to follow.)

Way back in the year 2000 Zadie Smith won the first novel award for “White Teeth” and this award helped launch and establish her career. So it's an amazing opportunity for an author and I see judging it as a great responsibility. Also, more sentimentally, it means a lot to me that I'll be a judge on this prize because another previous winner from 2000 was the memoir “Bad Blood” by Lorna Sage. This obviously won the biography category in that year when this award was still called The Whitbread Awards. The name of the prize changed in 2006 when Costa Coffee became the sponsor of the awards. But the reason this book winning was so meaningful to me was that Lorna was my teacher at the time and I know it meant so much to her to win this award. And Lorna was one of the most inspirational teachers I ever had and she helped shape who I am as a reader. She introduced me to the books of writers such as Joyce Carol Oates and Angela Carter. So it feels really special to be involved in judging this prize and it's a great honour.

Watch this space. This is going to be great. The shortlists and winners will be announced later this year. I'm sure I'll be talking about it a lot more at that time and I hope you follow along and read along as announcements are made.

The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction longlist 2020

One of my favourite writers that I read during my time at university was George Orwell. I have a special fondness for his fiction such as “Keep the Aspidistra Flying” and “A Clergyman’s Daughter” (in addition, of course, to the famous “1984”) and nonfiction such as “Down and Out in Paris and London”. So it’s wonderful that The Orwell Foundation runs a series of prizes for new books which seek “to make political writing into an art” including an award for political fiction. Last year’s winner was Anna Burns for “Milkman” which is a sharp-eyed look at the personal impact of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Other novels I was especially glad to see on last year’s shortlist include “Ironopolis” by Glen James Brown, “Sabrina” by Nick Drnaso and “Red Clocks” by Leni Zumas.

The longlist for this year’s prize has just been announced and includes an intriguing mixture of fiction I’ve read, a few I’ve been meaning to get to and some books I’ve not come across before. Some of these novels such as “The Topeka School” by Ben Lerner, “Spring” by Ali Smith and “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead have been critically lauded but received little or no prize attention before this award. So it’s great to see a book prize shine a spotlight on them and noting the political message of these books in particular. Four of these novels also appeared on last year’s Booker Prize longlist including “Ducks, Newburyport” by Lucy Ellman (which was the best book I read last year), “Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernardine Evaristo, “The Wall” by John Lanchester and “The Man Who Saw Everything” by Deborah Levy. Iconic writer Edna O’Brien’s novel “Girl” is also listed for this year’s Women’s Prize.

Other books on the list I’m keen to read include “This Paradise” by Ruby Cowling which is a collection of short stories about people fleeing towards places or times or situations they hope might be better. “Broken Jaw” by Minoli Salgado, the other book of short stories on the list, includes tales mostly set in Sri Lanka that concern the traumas of war. Regina Porter is an award-winning playwright and her debut novel “The Travelers” concerns the histories of two interconnected American families (one white, one black). Attica Locke is an acclaimed author of literary crime novels and “Heaven, My Home” is the second instalment in her Highway 59 series. James Meek’s “To Calais, In Ordinary Time” is a historical novel set in the 14th century amidst the shadow of the Black Death.  

So it’s a wonderfully varied list and I look forward to discovering some good new fiction from it. The shortlist will be announced mid-May and the winner will be announced on June 25th, George Orwell’s birthday. Let me know if you’re rooting for any of these books or if you’re keen to read any of them now.

The Windham-Campbell Prizes 2020 Recipients

Imagine you’re a writer who gets a phone call informing you that you’ve won a literary prize worth $165,000 and you didn’t even know that you were nominated for it! That’s what’s just happened for the eight recipients of this year’s Windham-Campbell Prizes. Part of what’s so brilliant about these literary prizes is that they don’t follow the traditional model of book awards by announcing their judges or lists of candidates beforehand; they are simply announced giving writers a previously unforeseen level of financial security to continue working on their artform.

Two winners are selected for the categories including Fiction, Non-Fiction, Drama and Poetry. It’s notable that this year it’s a female dominated winners list with seven women and one man. Since this is a global prize these are also writers whose origins span many different countries including India, China, Zambia, Australia and the United States. I’m especially thrilled to see Yiyun Li on this year’s list since I loved reading her memoir “Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life” and novel “Where Reasons End”. The other recipient of this year’s fiction prize is Namwali Serpell whose novel “The Old Drift” has received a large amount of praise and is a book I’ve been meaning to read.

In the poetry category the winners are Bhanu Kapil who is the author of several collections and is a fellow blogger at the brilliantly titled The Vortex of Formidable Sparkles. The other winner is Jonah Mixon-Webster whose debut poetry collection Stereo(TYPE) addresses the economic and health crisis in his native city of Flint, Michigan. The recipients of the drama category are Julia Cho, the author of nine plays which explore the power and frailty of human connection—between cultures, between individuals, between generations, between institutions; and Aleshea Harris whose two plays confront the physical and psychological wounds of misogyny and racism. The recipients of the nonfiction category are Maria Tumarkin, author of four nonfiction books which explore the interrelatedness of past and present; and Anne Boyer whose writing blurs the boundaries between different forms as exemplified in her most recent book “The Undying” which is a non-traditional memoir about cancer.

I’m looking forward to exploring the work of these authors. The Windham-Campbell Prizes are exceptionally good at highlighting and raising awareness for literary talent that is under-appreciated and under-represented in mainstream publishing. Let me know if you’ve read any of these winners or which you’re most interested in reading now.

The Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist 2020

As usual, I’ve been greatly anticipating what will be listed for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction and this year’s list was announced at midnight. Anna and I made a video speculating what might be on the list and between us we managed to guess eight out of the sixteen titles correctly! I’ve only read three of them but I am thrilled to see “Girl, Woman, Other”, “Weather” and “The Dutch House” listed as I think they are all brilliant in different ways. The rest of the novels are a great balance between books I’ve been eager to read and a couple (“Dominicana” and “Nightingale Point”) that I wasn’t previously aware of.

I’ve been meaning to read “A Thousand Ships” since Anna enthusiastically endorsed it before it was even published last year. “Queenie” is another one that’s been high on my TBR since it published and one I wanted to get to when it was listed for the Costa Book Awards a couple months ago. I was given a copy of “Girl” for Christmas and now I can grab it off my shelves. Anne Enright is one of my favourite authors so a new novel by her is always a cause for celebration and I’ve heard great things about “Actress”.  Jacqueline Woodson is an author I’ve always meant to read and “Red at the Bone”, her most recent novel for adults, has received great critical acclaim. As Anna mentioned in our video, “Dominicana” is a novel that’s often been mentioned amidst the whole “American Dirt” controversy within the lists of alternative suggestions for books by Latinx authors.

In the past couple of weeks I’ve been reading the first two novels in the Cromwell trilogy so I’m now fully on the Hilary Mantel train and ready for “The Mirror and the Light” which is coming out this week and without a doubt one of the publishing events of the year. The only trouble is that it’s over 900 pages long so it’s going to be a challenge to balance my reading of this alongside the other longlisted titles as well as books listed for this year’s International Booker Prize. Lots of reading ahead! The novel I’m most looking forward to is Maggie O’Farrell’s “Hamnet” which has amazing advance praise and is an author I’ve meant to read again since I loved her novel “This Must Be the Place”.

There’s an impressive mixture of really famous authors listed from recent Booker prize winner Bernardine Evaristo to previous Women’s Prize winner Ann Patchett as well as popular favourites such as Candice Carty-Williams and Claire Lombardo whose “The Most Fun We Ever Had” I’ve heard is a very funny novel as well as one of great quality. One of my favourite things about the prize is how it always presents a balanced group of novels that encourage readers to try books they probably wouldn’t have read otherwise. I’m planning to read most of the list and hope to discover some great fiction I might not have got to otherwise.

A shortlist of six novels will be announced on April 22nd and the winner on June 3rd. What do you think of this year’s list? Any favourites you’ve already read or books you’re keen to now read?

Booker International Prize Longlist 2020

The Booker International Prize has become one of my favourite literary awards to follow as it’s fascinating reading a wider variety of literature from around the world, it gives a much-needed platform for many independent publishers and, of course, the quality of the books chosen are often top notch. Last year’s winner “Celestial Bodies” was an excellent family saga about three very different sisters in modern-day Oman. I’ve had especially high hopes for this year’s award because it has such an excellent group of judges including Jennifer Croft, who translated previous winner “Flights” by Olga Tokarczuk; brilliant writer Valeria Luiselli whose most recent novel is the outstanding “Lost Children Archive” and the group is chaired by Ted Hodgkinson who is Head of Literature at the Southbank Centre in London which hosts discussions with many writers from around the world.

So I trust their taste and it’s a thrill to see these 13 novels which they’ve selected for this year’s longlist. I’m especially happy “The Memory Police” and “Hurricane Season” are listed as I think they’re both fascinatingly inventive novels with brilliant story-telling. I’m also very glad “The Eighth Life” has been included. This is a sweeping family epic set over a century in Georgia and is by far the longest novel on the list at 944 pages. Now, I guiltily have to admit, that because of the length this was a novel I started last Autumn but paused reading after around 200 pages. I was really enjoying it but because I try to read other books while reading such a long novel I let myself get distracted and didn’t go back. I’m looking forward to returning to it with vigour now to read it in its entirety.

Out of the remaining titles some that I’m most looking forward to are “Little Eyes” by Samanta Schweblin (which I included in a video list of my most anticipated books of the year.) Schweblin was previously listed for the Booker Prize with her creepily surreal short novel “Fever Dream”. I’ll probably also prioritize reading “The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree”, “The Adventure of China Iron”, “Tyll”, “Faces on the Tip of my Tongue” and “The Discomfort of Evening”. But I’d be curious to read all the novels – except perhaps “Serotonin” as I’m not sure Houllebecq will be an author I enjoy. If you think I should give him a try let me know.

Two of the novels haven’t yet been published in the UK: “Little Eyes” is due to be published on April 16 and “The Discomfort of Evening” is due to be published on March 19. When this occurred last year the publishers rushed them to print so that may happen again (especially because Schweblin’s novel currently won’t be available until after the shortlist is announced).

I’m sure many people will note that this year’s list (yet again) has a very European focus with 7 titles nominated. I’m not sure why this would be, but I’m guessing that more translated books from the continent get published in the UK leading to lists which lean more in Europe’s favour. However, it should be noted that nearly half the list comes from countries around the rest of the world. This is also the year that Great Britain is officially leaving the European Union so perhaps the judges are making a point that we’re still culturally connected to the continent.

A couple of novels I was hoping to see on the list were “Love” by Hanne Orstavik and “The Collection” by Nina Leger. But, based on pictures that have been posted on social media of the piles of books the judges have been feverishly reading through, it appears there was an enormous amount of competition for this year’s award. There were 124 novels submitted for it.

I’m looking forward to reading and seeing what books make it to the shortlist on April 2nd. You can also watch me discuss all the novels listed in a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YmBowiwEDM

Let me know which novels your most interested in reading from the list.

The 2020 Dylan Thomas Prize Longlist

Recently the longlist for the 2020 International Dylan Thomas Prize was announced. The prize is celebrating it’s 15th anniversary this year. It’s open to any author aged 39 or under. Since it’s one of my goals this year to read more poetry and short stories, I’m keen to follow this prize as the 12 books on the longlist include 3 books of poetry and 2 short story collections – as well as 7 novels (many of which are ones I’ve been meaning to read anyway.) You can watch me discussing all these books here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P81rIwrpRIE

Coincidentally, I’ve already read two of the books of poetry including Jay Bernard’s “Surge” which is extraordinarily powerful and one of the best books I read last year. More recently, I enjoyed Mary Jean Chan’s “Fleche” which won the Poetry category at the Costa Book Awards. I found these poems so immersive and emotional. I’ve also been very keen to read Stephen Sexton’s collection “If All the World and Love were Young” as I heard him read some poems from it at the Forward Prizes last year.

I’ve really enjoyed reading Kirsty Logan’s short stories in the past so I’m particularly keen to read her most recent collection “Things we say in the Dark” and I’ve heard lots of good things from readers in America about Bryan Washington’s story collection “Lot”.

Interestingly, two debut novels on the list represent their authors first forays into long-form fiction. Helen Mort and Ocean Vuong are both established and well-regarded poets. I’m always curious to see how authors modify their writing style when changing form. The results can really vary. For instance, I thought Garth Greenwell’s poetic sensibility works very well in his narratives, but poet Katharine Kilalea’s first novel didn’t work quite as well.

Two novels on the list I began reading but set aside are “Exquisite Cadavers” and “Stubborn Archivist”. Although I loved Kandasamy’s novel “When I Hit You” I found the high concept of this new book made it difficult for me to engage with the story. It’s a dual narrative where the author is telling a fictional story alongside all the real-life influences which went into making it. While this is an interesting idea, I found it made for a frustrating reading experience. Equally, Fowler uses a very informal style in her novel for telling the story of a woman’s migration from Brazil to England. From what I read of the novel it lacked the kind of artfulness I look for in fiction so didn’t finish it.

Out of the remaining three books I’m most keen to read Tea Obreht’s historical novel “Inland” and Madhuri Vijay’s “The Far Field” which won the 2019 JCB Prize for Literature (a literary award for Indian authors.) But, if I have time I’d also be keen to read Yelena Moskovich’s novel which sounds so atmospheric.

The shortlist for this year’s prize will be announced on April 7th and the winner on May 14th. Hopefully, I’ll be able to read a number of these books before then. Let me know which you are keen to read or, if you’ve read any, let me know your thoughts about them.

The Portico Prize 2019 shortlist

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.

The Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize for Nature Writing Shortlist 2019

I was raised to be a nature lover. I grew up in the rural state of Maine in a house next to a horse pasture and my father’s extensive garden. Years before I read about Thoreau’s time on Mount Katahdin, I hiked to the top of it during a thunderstorm. I spent many weekends in my youth camping and canoeing on lakes. I may not have always enjoyed the mosquitoes, bitter cold of a Klondike derby or back-aching hours spent weeding the garden or chopping wood. But now that I live in a city every now and then I get a romantic feeling for staying in a cabin in the woods or at least spending an afternoon walking in a park. For some reason this year I’ve felt a particular yearning to read about the natural world and environment.

So it seems fortuitous that I happened upon The Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize for Nature Writing whose shortlist was announced at the beginning of this month. It includes seven books on a range of subjects including personal journeys and politically-charged messages about climate change. The prize believes that the stories in these books are so important and urgent that they’ve sent a full set of the shortlist to the UK’s Environmental Secretary, Michael Gove, hoping that it will inform and inspire the government to take more deliberate steps towards taking climate action. Many people find it difficult to take action to improve and safeguard the environment until it becomes personal so I’m looking forward to exploring how these authors were inspired to interact with and learn from the natural world.

Looking through the books, the ones I’m most drawn to reading first are “Underland” by Robert Macfarlane and “Thinking On My Feet” by Kate Humble. I saw popular author Macfarlane in discussion about his new book a few months ago at the Southbank Centre where he described his impressive journeys to some deep places in the earth to experience layers of time and connect to literature about journeys into the Underworld. In recent years, I’ve developed a desire to go on walks much more so I’m intrigued to read about Humble’s account of her walking year. She explores the manifold physical and psychological benefits of going on long walks through nature as well as describing people she encounters who have found different sorts of inspiration or solace from in their rambling.  

I’m also quite keen to try reading “The Easternmost House” by Juliet Blaxland who spent a year living in a house on the Suffolk coast, an area that’s experiencing rapid erosion. She witnessed first-hand the cliffside coming closer and closer to the house in a relatively short span of time. I’m also intrigued to read “Wilding” by Isabella Tree as I remember seeing her being interviewed on a news show about how she and her husband allowed their intensely farmed land to go wild and the surprisingly quick renewal of the ecosystem. If I get time I’ll also try to read Julia Blackburn’s “Time Song”  about her search for truths about sunken land that once connected Britain to the European mainland and Mark Cocker’s “Our Place”  which exposes the devastating affects we have had on the wild world. I began reading Luke Turner’s memoir “Out of the Woods” earlier this year, but there was something about his style of writing I didn’t get on with so I put it aside – despite its exceedingly beautiful cover.

Most of the book prizes I follow are focused on fiction so I’m glad this prize has given me a springboard to discover and read a variety of non-fiction books about the natural world. It’ll be interesting to see which book is declared the winner on the 15th of August. Let me know if you’ve read any of these and your thoughts about them. Or let me know if you have any favourite nature writers!

The Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist 2019

I’ve been greatly anticipating what might be longlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize – Anna and I had such fun speculating in our annual video. It’s great to see a diverse and varied group of novels listed! Not only are there some great books I was hoping to see such as “The Silence of the Girls” by Pat Barker, “Swan Song” by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott, “Circe” by Madeline Miller, “Ghost Wall” by Sarah Moss and “Normal People” by Sally Rooney – but there are also some novels I’ve been wanting to read and others I know nothing about. So the list is the perfect balance of books I’m thrilled to see celebrated and others I’m now eager to explore.

More than anything I feel like many of the novels on this list will generate such interesting discussions. Although both “Ghost Wall” and “Normal People” have been so popular they have their critics as well. I feel like “The Pisces” and “Freshwater” will receive really mixed responses as well. I myself had a mixed reaction to “Milkman” as I’m one of its readers that found it a difficult book – not in being able to understand it, but it sometimes felt like a slog to read despite there being some stunningly insightful passages. After it won the Booker Prize it felt like some readers who loved it were annoyed by it being labelled as a “difficult” or “challenging” novel as if readers who felt this way were being lazy or failed to comprehend the narrative. I don’t think these descriptive terms are equivalent. There are many novels like those written by Marlon James I’d describe as “difficult” and “challenging” as well but I also think they’re brilliant. I simply felt that, while “Milkman” honestly has so many strengths and has powerful things to say, it wasn’t as enjoyable a reading experience for me. Nevertheless, I’d highly recommend everyone read “Milkman” and I’ll be eager to discuss it with you once you do. While I’m sure many people will have divergent opinions on the books longlisted I hope we can maintain a civilized discussion and respect other readers’ personal reactions to what they read even if we disagree.

Of the sixteen books listed, I’ve read seven and a half (I’m currently reading Luiselli’s novel.) After finishing this I’ll probably start by reading “An American Marriage” or “Ordinary People”. Which are you most intrigued to read first? Here’s the list with links to my reviews of the ones I’ve read so far:

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Remembered by Yvonne Battle-Felton

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

The Pisces by Melissa Broder

Milkman by Anna Burns

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

Ordinary People by Diana Evans

Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li

Bottled Goods by Sophie van Llewyn

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

Praise Song for the Butterflies by Bernice L. McFadden

Circe by Madeline Miller

Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss

Normal People by Sally Rooney

The shortlist will be announced on April 29th and the winner on June 5th. What do you think of the list? Will you try to read them all or are there select ones you want to focus on?

The Dylan Thomas Prize 2019 Longlist

It’s the start of this year’s book prize season and I love perusing all the lists the judges to create to see what they choose to highlight. One of my favourite prizes of late is the Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize – whose shortlist I so avidly followed last year. It was great to see poet Kayo Chingonyi receive the prize last year for his debut collection “Kumukanda”. The Dylan Thomas Prize is awarded to what the judges deem to be the best published literary work in the English language written by an author aged 39 or under.

This year’s longlist has just been announced and it’s got that perfect mix of books I’ve read and admired, books I’ve been meaning to read and a few books I’ve not come across before. On the list are eight novels, two short story collections and two books of poetry. Two that I’ve read and that were also listed for this year’s Costa Book Awards are “Normal People” by Sally Rooney and “Soho” by Richard Scott. Rooney’s immense popularity as one of the most exciting new voices in Ireland today is well deserved and Richard Scott’s disarmingly beautiful and emotional poetry still vividly sticks with me. It’s also wonderful to see the excellent Sarah Perry honoured for her most recent novel “Melmoth” and writer Emma Glass for her wickedly creative slim debut novel “Peach”.

I’m eager to try reading some of the other books listed before the shortlist is announced on April 2nd. This year’s winner will be announced on May 16th. It’s also fun to note that one of the judges of this year’s prize is writer Kit De Waal!

Have you read any of the books on this year’s longlist or are you curious to try some of them now?

The Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist

I’ve said it before, but it really does feel like the first holiday of a year when the longlist for The Women’s Prize for Fiction gets announced. It’s one of my favourite book prizes and I love reading/discussing/debating all the titles this award honours. It’s particularly exciting that the prize this year is known under it’s new title The Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly the Baileys Prize.) Some weeks ago I made a video with my friend Anna about what books we’d like to see on the longlist for the prize. Between us we guessed 9 of the 16. You can watch me discuss my reaction to this year’s longlist here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-DCtqkk_78&t=27s

After I finish reading Joanna Cannon’s novel I’ll have six more on the list to read. I’ll be meeting with Naomi from TheWritesofWomen and other members of our Shadow Group to discuss the longlist and pick our own fan favourite shortlist/winner for the prize. So there’s a lot of fun discussion to come! Let me know in the comments what books from the longlist you’re eager to read or what you’d like to see win. The official shortlist will be announced on April 23rd and the winner will be announced on June 6th.

A lot of people will bemoan the fact Ali Smith’s “Winter” isn’t included on this list and its absence is a great shame. I have no special inside knowledge or insight into the judging process, but I’d just point out that we don’t know if the novel was even submitted for the prize. Novels that are eligible aren’t always put forward for a prize and there can be any number of reasons for this. That’s just part of the mysterious alchemy of book prizes!

For the books that I’ve already read and reviewed you can click on the titles below to see my full thoughts.

H(A)PPY by Nicola Barker
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
Sight by Jessie Greengrass
When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife by Meena Kandasamy
Elmet by Fiona Mozley
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt
A Boy in Winter by Rachel Seiffert
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
The Idiot by Elif Batuman
Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon
Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig
The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gower
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
The Trick to Time by Kit de Waal

The Windham-Campbell Prizes 2018 Recipients

The Windham-Campbell Prize has been going for five years now and their list of eight recipients for this year’s prize have just been announced. It’s one of the richest book awards in the world as each winner of the prize is awarded $165,000 – a considerable amount that grants authors the freedom to write whatever they please. You can watch me discussing this book award and this year's winners here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP-P97xLolI&t=191s. Some of the past recipients whose books I’ve enjoyed include Jerry Pinto, CE Morgan, Tarell Alvin McCraney and Nadeem Aslam.

This year’s winners include Lucas Hnath, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Bakewell, John Keene, Lorna Goodison and Cathy Park Hong. And I’m particularly happy to see Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi has won the prize as I read and admired her novel "Kintu" so recently. Also, Olivia Laing who is a wonderful cultural critic and nonfiction writer. Her book “The Lonely City” was one of my favourite books from 2016. So I’ll be really eager to discover the writing of these other winning authors.

If you could give a living author $165,000 to write whatever they please, who would you award it to? It’s a fun question to contemplate – like imagining what you’d do if you won the lottery, but instead it’s money you can grant to a favourite writer. An author I’d certainly like to endow with such financial freedom would be Garth Greenwell as he’s such an ingenious writer with such promise.