We are thrilled that Monique’s Roffey’s THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH, published by Leeds-based independent publisher Peepal Tree Press, has been longlisted for The Republic of Consciousness Prize 2021. The longlist of ten books, including works in translation, all published by small presses in UK and Ireland, was chosen by judges Guy Gunaratne, John Mitchinson and Eley Williams. The judging process is being studied and supported by students from the MA publishing module at the University of East Anglia.
THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH was published to wide acclaim by Peepal Tree Press in the UK in April 2020. It was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and was recently announced as the winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award 2020.
Peepal Tree aims to bring readers the very best of international writing from the Caribbean, its diasporas and the UK, with the goal of always publishing books that make a difference. Jeremy Poynting founded Peepal Tree Press more than 30 years ago and he and Hannah Bannister run it from their offices in Leeds, Yorkshire. You can read more about Peepal Tree Press here.
The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses rewards fiction published by publishers with fewer than five full-time employees, with each publisher on the longlist receiving £1,000. A further £10,000 will be split between shortlisted books. The shortlist will be announced in late March, and the winner will be announced mid-May.
The full longlist features: A Musical Offering by Luis Sagasti, translated by Fionn Petch (Charco Press), The Appointment by Katharina Volckmer (Fitzcarraldo Editions), Mordew by Alex Pheby (Galley Beggar Press), Mr Beethoven by Paul Griffiths (Henningham Family Press), Unknown Language by Huw Lemmey and Hildegard von Bingen (Ignota Books), Lote by Shola von Reinhold (Jacaranda Books), The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey (Peepal Tree Press), Men and Apparitions by Lynne Tillman (Peninsula Press), Alindarka's Children by Alhierd Bacharevic, translated by Jim Dingley and Petra Reid (Scotland Street Press), and A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Tramp Press). Funds for the prize are raised in part by a monthly book subscription.
A vivid, moving story of love and trust, family and friendship in a Caribbean island community, THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is a world brought to unforgettable life by a master storyteller. A fisherman sings to himself in his boat, but attracts an unexpected sea-dweller — Aycayia, a beautiful young woman cursed to live as a mermaid, swimming the ocean for centuries. Theirs becomes a calm, unspoken bond. But when she hears David’s engine again one day and follows the vessel, she finds herself in a fierce battle for her life. Caught by American sports fishermen, she is strung up on the dock as a trophy, but David rescues her, and gently wins her trust as she starts to transform, painfully, back into a woman. But jealous eyes are watching them…
Interwoven with David and Aycayia’s love story is that of Miss Arcadia Rain, a white landowner bringing up her deaf son on a dwindling estate. As her young son connects with fellow outsider Aycayia, an old lover of Arcadia’s returns to the island and she too begins to feel her way into love and trust again.
See more about THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH on the Peepal Tree Press site and read an interview with Monique Roffey here.
Praise for THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH
‘Monique Roffey is a unique talent and most daring and versatile of writers.’ — Bernardine Evaristo
‘THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH arrives bearing tragedy and beauty. Monique Roffey has created a new myth for an age of ruined oceans. She continues to be one of our most exciting new Caribbean voices.’ — A.L. Kennedy
‘Monique Roffey is a writer of verve, vibrancy and compassion, and her work is always a joy to read.’ — Sarah Hall
THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is wonderfully written, with both soul and intense drama – it glistens almost, like the mermaid! I love its all-round charisma and also its great compassion for both humanity and the natural world.’ — Diana Evans
‘THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is like a lost myth, found, and made fresh again for our times.’ — Tessa McWatt, author of Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging
Photo: Marcus Bastel
About Monique Roffey
Monique Roffey is an award-winning novelist. House of Ashes (Scribner UK) was shortlisted for the Costa and the BOCAS Prize. Archipelago, winner of the OCM BOCAS prize for Caribbean Literature, was published by Scribner in the UK, Viking in the US, and translated into 5 languages. Her second novel The White Woman on the Green Bicycle was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Encore Prize, among other accolades, and film/TV rights have been optioned.
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