Change was rife at the FBAtrium last month as administrator and digital manager Amy left Oxford for a new life with her boyfriend in London (there was cake, there was champagne, there was sadness). Alice—who’d previously run admin for the Oxford Creative Writing MSt—joined the team in her stead, though, and former intern Aoife (ex-Waterstones)… Read more »
It’s a Thursday evening and we are in for a treat—off to the bright lights and bustle of Southwark and the brilliant Unicorn Theatre, nestling in the lee of the glittering Shard. The foyer is full of schoolchildren still in uniform – as well as teachers, reviewers, and general punters – and the buzz is… Read more »
Congratulations to Graham Caveney, who has been longlisted for the Portico Prize for Literature with his searingly evocative memoir The Boy with Perpetual Nervousness. Once described as ‘the Booker of the North’, The Portico Prize awards £10,000 to the book that best evokes the spirit of the North of England, and is the UK’s only… Read more »
UK and Commonwealth rights for The Insect Crisis, the first book by Guardian journalist Oliver Milman, have been sold at auction, on behalf of Zoe Pagnamenta, to Atlantic Books. Atlantic will publish in 2021.
Katya Balen’s stunning middle-grade novel was launched last night at Bookseller Crow on the Hill, Crystal Palace, with lashings of crisps, cupcakes, and flying saucers (the fizzy confection, not the extra-terrestrial taxicab). For those who couldn’t be there, this is the gorgeous launch speech by commissioning editor at Bloomsbury, Lucy McKay-Sim. We’re here in this lovely… Read more »
Renowned philhellene and scholar Roderick Beaton has been presented with the Greek Order of Honour this week for his “emblematic contribution” to Hellenic literature and culture, in a special ceremony at the Presidential Mansion in Athens. Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History at King’s College, London, Roderick is one of the English-speaking world’s leading… Read more »
We are very sad to report that Finbarr Livesey, author of From Global to Local (Profile Books/Pantheon), died peacefully on Monday 2 September. A memorial service will be held for Finbarr at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he was a Fellow, on Thursday 12 September. Our thoughts are very much with his friends and young family.
I Am Dynamite! – Sue Prideaux‘s stunning new life of the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche – has been shortlisted for the Historical Writers Association 2019 Non-Fiction Crown, alongside Helen Rappaport and Ben MacIntyre, among others. The winner will be announced at an award ceremony on the 6th of November.
Elleke Boehmer has won the Olive Schreiner Award for Prose, for her “enthralling” (JM Coetzee) historical novel THE SHOUTING IN THE DARK. She will collect her prize, awarded by the English Academy of Southern Africa, in Johannesburg next week, before flying on to Melbourne to receive her commendation from the Australian Book Review for her… Read more »
Lindsey Hilsum won the James Tait Black Prize for her biography of Marie Colvin, IN EXTREMIS. The £10,000 prize awarded each year by the University of Edinburgh, were announced by broadcaster Sally Magnusson at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Saturday (17th August).