CANONGATE has three novels in contention for Le Prince Maurice Prize, to be announced in June. We Are Now Beginning Our Descent by James Meek, Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith, and United Agents client The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas are on a long lost of nine books, Continue reading ‘MISS SCARLETT AND THE PRINCE’
Archive for January, 2008
Andrew Martin’s brilliant Jim Stringer series of novels, set in the environs of the Victorian railway network, have received a rave review from Katherine A. Powers in the Boston Globe. She says (of The Lost Luggage Porter,” “The Necropolis Railway” and “The Blackpool Highflyer”) ‘Martin could be compared, in a way, to W. G. Sebald, though he is not such a sad sack - in fact, not a sad sack at all. He is possessed of a sense of humor quite missing in Sebald. But he does share that writer’s mood of alienated possession of the past. His is an original voice, and the historical novels ate the best I have read this century’
Lisa Norman writing in the Nottingham Evening Post says of my co-authored book SHOPPING WHILE DRUNK, ‘every now and again a book comes along that you just can’t put down - unfortunately for whoever buys this it’s not one of them’. She goes on to say that she couldn’t care less about the book and that it is ‘rubbish’. The art of criticism is not dead. Lisa - we salute you! Click on the image to read the whole thing.
Danny has done it again! Another wonderful feelgood Danny Wallace book is gearing up for a July launch - FRIENDS LIKE THESE follows Danny on an epic journey around the world to reunite his best mates from schooldays. Bound proofs have just landed on my desk and they look wonderful. Watch this space for more details in the run up to what will no doubt be a huge bestseller.
On Friday night at the Centre For Life in Newcastle, Ally Kennen’s BERSERK won the North-East Teen Book Award in front of a big audience of secondary school students who had voted for their favourite book out of a strong shortlist. Ally spoke brilliantly about her second novel and signed books for 40 minutes for a long queue of enthusiastic teenagers. All the shortlisted authors, two of whom are winners of the Carnegie Medal, were at the event: Mal Peet THE PENALTY, Nicky Singer THE INNOCENT’S STORY, Anne Cassidy INNOCENT (Hodder), Tim Bowler FROZEN FIRE and Sarah Wray THE FORBIDDEN ROOM
Scarlett is currently Number 8 on the Italian Fiction Bestseller list with THE END OF MR Y and, in Germany (where it is called TROPOSPHERE) it has already sold in excess of 5,000 copies. For those of you German speakers out there check out this tv review of the book (click the image to view).
Steven Hall’s extraordinary novel THE RAW SHARK TEXTS has won the fiction category of the Borders Inc 2007 Original Voices awards. Borders’ 12th annual Original Voices Awards recognizes fresh, compelling and ambitious works from new and emerging talents of 2007 in fiction, non-fiction, young adult/independent reader and children’s picture books. Each winner will receive $5,000 from Borders in recognition of their outstanding achievement in producing creative and original works. Borders’ Original Voices committee said,” Hall created a great read for anyone willing to surrender disbelief and trust him as a storyteller even if the narrator can’t be trusted.”
Ian Sanders has written a fascinating and inspirational book which I highly recommend to anyone entrepenurial out there. Check out his video by clicking the image to your left, his website here and buy the book here. Leap! shows you how to maje the most of being your own boss - how to be enterprising, innovative and fulfilled. And most importantly how to survive. Ian is a friend of mine from The Hospital and I am thrilled his book is getting such a great reaction.
Both John Boyne and Zoe Margolis are appearing at this year’s Listowel Writers Week. Listowel, the cultural playground for all those with a passion for writing, is the ideal spot for a world-renowned literary Festival. The late, great Bryan MacMahon certainly knew what he was talking about when he lovingly characterised it as “the centre of the imagination”. A charming town of over three thousand people, this is the Irish Mecca for writers, book lovers and, most of all, fun-lovers! Click the image for a link to their site.
Mike Gayle has been appointed Patron of the Reading Agency’s new national Six Book Challenge, which launches this month to coincide with the 2008 National Year of Reading. Run in association with the Costa Book Awards, the Six Book Challenge is targeted at adults who want to improve their literacy skills and invites people to read six books “whilst supporting them with incentives and creative reading activity”. It forms part of the Reading Agency’s Vital Link programme for libraries.
Gayle, an agony uncle and freelance journalist as well as author, said he was “absolutely thrilled” to have been asked to be Patron. “I look forward to the initiative making a real difference to those who have felt excluded from the world of books,” he said.
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