Kathryn Faulke awarded 2025 Royal Society of Literature Christopher Bland Prize for ‘riveting and truly heartwarming’ memoir EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE

We are delighted to announce that Kathryn Faulke’s EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE has won the 2025 RSL Christopher Bland prize, recognising the best debut work, in any form or genre, by a writer over the age of 50. Kathryn was awarded the £10,000 prize in a unanimous decision by judges Jacqueline Wilson, Margaret Busby and Reverend Richard Coles.

EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE: A Journey Into the Heart of Carework, is a vivid, poignant and unforgettable memoir recounting the author’s experiences as a careworker in London, celebrating humanity and compassion in the face of hardship. The book was published in hardback by Fig Tree last year, after publishing director Helen Garnons-Williams won a four-way auction for UK and British Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada). The audiobook is narrated by Ayesha Antoine and the paperback edition will be out on 7 August. Serialised on BBC Radio 4 as their Book of the Week, Kathryn’s story has touched thousands with its warmth, humour and tenderness. As the winner of this year’s prize, Kathryn follows in the footsteps of previous honourees Raynor Winn (THE SALT PATH), Paterson Joseph (THE SECRET DIARIES OF CHARLES IGNATIUS SANCHO) and 2024 winner Chidi Ebere (NOW I AM HERE).

Upon learning the news of her win, Kathryn said: ‘I’m so honoured. I wanted people to see that it doesn’t matter how old you are, or how what illnesses you have – you are still a human being, and you can still engage. You’re still funny. You’re still interesting. You’re still lively. I really want people to see care as a profession, as something that’s skilled and positive, and as something that’s enjoyable. I just think it’s so important. I’ve always written. I wrote things to make sense of the world, and to record things that I was interested in. I love that moment where you find the right rhythm. You find the right sentence. You find exactly the right word. I came to care work much later in life, having done another clinical job before, and so I’m just overjoyed that the two things that I love so much – care work and writing – have come together in this amazing way!’

The video of Kathryn receiving the news is available to view on the RSL YouTube channel here.

‘It’s become my comfort book,’ chair of the judges Dame Jacqueline Wilson tells Kathryn in the video, ‘because though it’s got such sad things in it, it’s got such funny things too. It shows people being kind, and how wonderful the difference you’ve made to so many people… you made all those sick, elderly, sometimes crotchety people come alive as real interesting human beings.’

Wilson added: ‘The stylish shortlist shows what a variety of entries we’ve had. Any would have been worthy winners, but we were united in thinking Kathryn’s EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE simply had to be at the very top of the list. It’s a riveting book that treats elderly, infirm and irritable people as the lively and extraordinary human beings they really are. Katherine Faulke is a shining example to us all, though she’s self-deprecating and touchingly hard on herself. EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE is truly heart-warming and will be in pride of place on my bookshelf of very special books.’ 

Reverend Richard Coles said: ‘It was not easy to pick a winner from so impressive a shortlist, but Kathryn Faulke’s EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE reminds us that wonderful kindness and comedy and compassion abound in the care sector, the bourne to which so many of us are destined and for which so few are prepared.’

Margaret Busby agreed: ‘We connected strongly and in different ways with all the books on the shortlist, before agreeing that the exceptional winner was EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE by Kathryn Faulke. Beyond being a vivid and consistently engaging memoir, it delivers a powerful lesson in humanity that needs to be shared.’

Congratulations also to fellow nominee Diane Abbott, who was shortlisted for her own memoir, A WOMAN LIKE ME, a fierce, witty and moving account of her Windrush-generation family, and her journey from becoming the first elected Black female Member of Parliament in the UK, to her current position as Mother of the House. Also shortlisted for this year’s award were A BOOKSHOP OF ONE’S OWN by Jane Cholmeley, THE DIARIES OF MR LUCAS by Hugo Greenhalgh, THE PAGES OF THE SEA by Anne Hawk and TREES IN WINTER by Richard Shimell.

About Kathryn Faulke

EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE is Kathryn Faulke's first book. She was runner-up in the Wasafiri International New Writing Prize in 2020 and in 2021 she won the Mslexia Memoir Prize for an earlier version of Every Kind of People. She has now moved out of London but continues to work in care in the South East of England.

More praise for EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE

‘The brilliant book she has written about her experience is, she says, “almost like a love story to care” … What comes through most in the book is the privilege of intimacy that comes from caring, the close relationships and love.’ – Emine Saner, The Guardian

‘A compassionate invitation to get up close to the human condition and those who attend to it.’ – Gwen Adshead, bestselling author of THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

‘Not just essential reading for anyone curious about the realities of care work in this country; it’s also the work of a natural storyteller, and a book full of empathy, humour, and – yes – care.  All kinds of brilliant.’ – Jon McGregor, author of IF NOBODY SPEAKS OF REMARKABLE THINGS

‘A deeply compelling story of one of the most unsung professions, brimming with anecdotes to make you both laugh and cry. A vital book.’ – Anna Bonet, i, ‘The Best New Books Out in October’

‘An extraordinary and important book that will make you laugh, cry, admire and despair in equal measure… EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE is a wonderful achievement.’ – Dr Sir David Haslam, author of SIDE EFFECTS

‘I am in love with Kate's storytelling, her ability to see the person and her fabulous, dry humour. This is a book about caring, and it’s also a book about being in love with humanity’ – Kathryn Mannix

‘This is a fantastic and important book. It reads like a novel, complete with vivid characters, humour and tragedy. Above all, it is an insight into the hidden life of a care worker. I was lost in admiration.’ – Tom Shakespeare

‘A fabulous and very necessary book. Definitely recommended.’ – Carol Atherton, author of READING LESSONS)

‘Marvellously life-affirming and utterly humbling.’ – Caroline Sanderson, Editor’s Choice, The Bookseller

‘Kathryn is the greatest recruitment officer for carers – everyone should read her book.’ – Anna Coote, Principal Fellow at the New Economics Foundation

‘Talks about what it’s actually like to be a carer: it’s full of love and full of warmth.’ – Adam Rutherford

‘EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE is an extraordinary book… The memoir works not just as a vivid insider account, but as a polemic; it should be required reading for any politician in the Department of Health and Social Care.’ – James Cook, Times Literary Supplement

Kathryn Faulke’s ‘extraordinary’ debut selected for BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week

EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE, the ‘life-affirming and utterly humbling’ (Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller) memoir by care worker Kathryn Faulke has been selected as BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week. Published on 24 October by Penguin Fig Tree, this vital and vivid memoir will be serialised on the radio station at 11.45 each day throughout the week, starting on Monday 28 October, with the full series available on BBC Sounds for the next 30 days. The book will be read by Ayesha Antoine, who also narrated Penguin’s audiobook, and was abridged and produced by Jill Waters of the Waters Company for BBC Radio 4.

You can listen or catch up online at BBC Sounds here.

This week Kathryn also featured on BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week, where she was invited to discuss the adult social care crisis, and how to fix it, alongside journalist and editor David Goodhart (author of THE CARE DILEMMA), social policy expert Anna Coote, and host Adam Rutherford. You can listen to their discussion on BBC Sounds here – where Adam Rutherford says EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE is ‘full of love and full of warmth’ and Anna Coote adds that ‘Kathryn is the greatest recruitment officer for carers – everyone should read her book.’

After the programme EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE leaped up to Number 40 on Amazon’s ‘Hot New Releases’ list. The Daily Mail also featured an extract from EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE and Kathryn was interviewed by the Guardian about her experiences and writing the book.

Kate – as Kathryn is referred to in EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE – never expected to become a home care worker. But when she left her senior role in the NHS, burnt-out and disheartened, she thought caring for people in their own homes would be a simpler job. Despite being determined not to become too involved with her 'customers', she soon found herself developing firm friendships, forging deep connections and bearing witness to the extraordinary drama to be found in ordinary lives.

With energy, compassion and clarity, her memoir gives an astonishing insight into this unsung – and often maligned – profession, and into the hidden lives of the housebound and infirm. From Beryl who screams like a banshee whenever Kate tries to wash her, but collapses in giggles when her toes are tickled, to bawdy Mr Radbert who 'promised to give me his car when he can remember where he left it'.

EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE is a clear-eyed about the challenges facing the NHS and the care system. But it is above all a celebration of humanity and of the life-changing impact of caring, on those who offer it and those who receive it.

About Kathryn Faulke

Kathryn Faulke was runner-up in the Wasafiri International New Writing Prize in 2020, and in 2021 she won the Mslexia Memoir Prize for an earlier version of her debut, EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE. She has now moved out of London but continues to work in care in the South East of England.

EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE: A Journey into the Heart of Carework is a vivid, moving and unforgettable memoir recounting Kathryn Faulke’s experiences as a careworker in London. It was selected as a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week and has received widespread praise and media attention.

Praise for EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE

‘A deeply compelling story of one of the most unsung professions, brimming with anecdotes to make you both laugh and cry. A vital book.’ – Anna Bonet, ‘The Best New Books Out in October’, i

‘Marvellously life-affirming and utterly humbling.’ – Caroline Sanderson, Editor’s Choice, The Bookseller

‘Not just essential reading for anyone curious about the realities of care work in this country; it’s also the work of a natural storyteller, and a book full of empathy, humour, and – yes – care.  All kinds of brilliant.’ – Jon McGregor

‘An extraordinary and important book that will make you laugh, cry, admire and despair in equal measure.  Beautifully written, it is both heart-warming and inspiring… a wonderful achievement.’ – Dr Sir David Haslam

‘Kathryn Faulke is an extraordinary person and this is an extraordinary account of what it is to care for others; of the labour of caring, which is both physical and emotional, but also of the joy of caring and the blessing that there is in giving time and attention to others… This book is a compassionate invitation to get up close to the human condition and those who attend to it.’ – Gwen Adshead

‘I am in love with Kate's storytelling, her ability to see the person and her fabulous, dry humour. This is a book about caring, and it's also a book about being in love with humanity’ – Kathryn Mannix

‘This is a fantastic and important book. It reads like a novel, complete with vivid characters, humour and tragedy. Above all, it is an insight into the hidden life of a care worker. I was lost in admiration.’ – Tom Shakespeare

‘Kathryn is the greatest recruitment officer for carers – everyone should read her book.’ – Anna Coote, Principal Fellow at the New Economics Foundation

‘EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE talks about what it’s actually like to be a carer: it’s full of love and full of warmth.’ – Adam Rutherford

Kathryn Faulke’s ‘powerful, moving’ debut EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE won at auction by Fig Tree

After a hotly-contested auction, Helen Garnons-Williams of Fig Tree has acquired Kathryn Faulke’s poignant and timely memoir EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE: A Journey into the Heart of Carework. Isobel Dixon brokered the deal for UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) and Fig Tree, a part of Penguin General, will publish in hardback, ebook and audio in July 2024.

EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE is the first-of-its-kind memoir of a home care worker, told through her encounters with the overlooked and often marginalised people she cares for. It recounts the experiences of Kathryn Faulke, a domiciliary care worker who left a senior role in the NHS, to take up what she thought would be a simpler job of caring for people in their own homes. But despite being determined not to become too involved with her 'customers', she soon found herself developing firm friendships, forging deep connections and bearing witness to the extraordinary drama to be found in ordinary lives.

With energy, compassion and hard-won humour, EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE gives an astonishing insight into this unsung – and often maligned – profession, and into the lives of the housebound and infirm. This beautifully written memoir is clear-eyed about the challenges facing the NHS and the care system, but it is, above all, a celebration of humanity and of the life-changing impact of caring, on those who offer it and those who receive it.

Helen Garnons-Williams, Publishing Director of Fig Tree says ‘We are so proud to welcome Kathryn Faulke to Fig Tree and to be publishing her powerful, beautifully moving account of working at the ‘coalface of human experience’. With warmth and honesty and (unsurprisingly) very great care, she illuminates and celebrates this undervalued profession and the often-disregarded people who depend on it.’

‘I’m thrilled to be working with Fig Tree to bring my early experience as a care worker into the public eye and shine a light on the profession that I have come to love so much,’ says Kathryn Faulke. ‘I would like people to understand not only the challenges but the satisfaction and joy to be found in doing this job that is so often swept under the carpet but is so vital to our communities.’

Isobel Dixon, Kathryn’s agent, says: ‘Kathryn Faulke’s story – and her compassion and humanity in bearing witness to the lives of others – struck right to the heart from the very first page. I knew this powerful and important book would be in the best of hands with Helen and the Fig Tree team and can’t wait for more readers to experience EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE’s particularly human magic.’

About Kathryn Faulke

EVERY KIND OF PEOPLE is Kathryn Faulke's first book. She was runner-up in the Wasafiri International New Writing Prize in 2020, and in 2021 she won the Mslexia Memoir Prize for an earlier version of Every Kind of People. She has now moved out of London but continues to work in care in the South-East of England.

Fig Tree acquires spirited and deeply moving new novel by Michael Donkor

Credit: David Yiu

Helen Garnons-Williams, Publishing Director at Fig Tree has acquired UK & Commonwealth rights at auction, GROW WHERE THEY FALL,  the new novel by Desmond-Elliot-Prize-shortlisted Michael Donkor, from Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedmann. Fig Tree will publish GROW WHERE THEY FALL as a lead title in summer 2024.

Ten-year-old Kwame Akromah’s life is changed forever when Yaw, a charismatic 22 year-old from his parents’ homeland of Ghana, comes to stay with his family. Kwame’s carefully-ordered routine doesn’t quite know how to hold this brash young man within it, but the two form a close bond and mutual admiration, learning from each other, until their friendship comes to an abrupt end. 

Twenty years later, Kwame has become an upright young man with a respectable job as a teacher at an aspirational secondary school, living just as cautiously as when he was a boy in order to keep himself ‘safe’. But when electrifying new headteacher, Marcus Felix, arrives out of the blue and bullishly challenges Kwame’s behaviour, Kwame finds himself questioning whether he’s living – or simply existing. 

GROW WHERE THEY FALL is a beautifully written, spirited and deeply moving novel about a young man coming to terms with his past and finding the courage to expand the limits of who he might become.

Helen Garnons-Williams says: ‘We are so excited to welcome the fiercely talented Michael Donkor to Fig Tree. GROW WHERE THEY FALL is a huge-hearted novel about love, fear and the freedom to be oneself, written with blazing compassion, humour and honesty.’

Michael Donkor says: ‘I was amazed by and so grateful for the care and commitment Helen showed when editing HOLD – it's a total joy to be working with her again. I'm thrilled to be part of the dynamic list she's building at Fig Tree.’

Juliet Pickering says: ‘This tender, skilful novel about the making of “a man” had me rapt from the first lines. Michael’s talent is to be warm and funny while he renders his characters deeply vulnerable, and this story is full of life. I can’t wait for Helen and Fig Tree to bring GROW WHERE THEY FALL to the readers who might empathise and find their voices here too.’

About Michael Donkor

Michael Donkor was born in London, to Ghanaian parents. He studied English at Wadham College, Oxford, and undertook a Masters in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway. His writing won him a place on the Writers’ Centre Norwich Inspires Scheme in 2014, where he received a year’s mentoring from Daniel Hahn. His first novel, HOLD, was published by 4th Estate in 2018, and was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas and shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prizes. Michael was also selected by Scottish Poet Laureate Jackie Kay as one of the most important British BAME writers working today. He has written for the Guardian, the Telegraph, BBC Radio 3, the TLS and the Independent. 

Praise for Michael Donkor

‘Michael Donkor is a real talent.’ – Sarah Winman

‘A stirring new voice.’ – Irenosen Okojie

‘Michael Donkor is the freshest new voice in Black British literature’ – Derek Owusu

‘Donkor is a hugely skilful and fresh voice in literary fiction.’ — Anbara Salam, author of THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL

‘Donkor has plenty of heart as a writer, and a willingness to fully explore the hearts and minds of his characters.’ – Tanya Sweeney, Irish Independent

‘He’s a young writer in Britain to watch’ – Kerri Miller, MPR

Follow Michael on Twitter

AN EXCITING NEW LITERARY VOICE: THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL BY ANBARA SALAM PUBLISHED TODAY!

Anbara Salam’s glittering debut THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL has been hotly anticipated, featured in numerous ‘Best of’ lists for 2018 including Stylist, Scottish Book Trust, Bookriot and The Upcoming, and now the wait is finally over: the captivatingly mysterious tale is published today by Fig Tree in hardback! It’s a novel that will easily ensnare your imagination. MOON TIGER author Penelope Lively called it, ‘A vivid account of both a place and a situation. The island setting and the rainforest are compellingly evoked, along with the claustrophobic backdrop of religious mania and a dysfunctional marriage - an impressive debut.’

Anbara will be on Woman’s Hour tomorrow morning speaking about the book, and will also be taking part in an event for Lush Book Club on 7th June with Sophie Mackintosh. You can also read more about the book and Anbara's writing process on the Foyle's blog.

Audio rights for THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL have been sold to WF Howes. French rights have also been sold to Calmann-Levy.

When Bea Hanlon follows her preacher husband Max to a remote island in the Pacific, she soon sees that their mission will bring anything but salvation. For Advent Island is a place beyond the reaches of even her most fitful imaginings. It's not just the rats and the hordes of mosquitos and the weevils in the powdered milk. Past the confines of their stuffy little house, amidst the damp and the dust and the sweltering heat, rumours are spreading of devil chasers who roam the island on the hunt for evil spirits. And then there are the noises from the church at night.

Yet, to the amusement of the locals and the bafflement of her husband, Bea gradually adapts to life on the island. But with the dreadful events heralded by the arrival of an unexpected, wildly irritating and always-humming house guest, Advent Island becomes a hostile place once again. And before long, trapped in the jungle and in the growing fever of her husband's insanity, Bea finds herself fighting for her freedom, and for her life.

Anbara is half-Palestinian, half-Scottish, and grew up in London. After studying in Beirut and York, she graduated from Oxford with a PhD in Theology in 2014. She lives in Oxford with her partner where she works as an academic. THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL is her first novel.

Follow Anbara on Twitter

Visit her website

Praise for THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL:

‘Very dark and mysterious and beguiling… beautifully written. It’s just transported me to a different world every night.’ — Dolly Alderton, author of EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LOVE

'This book is so rich in detail, the rainforest so immersive, and the characters so wonderfully odd, that I was sucked into its dark beating heart and wasn't spat out until I'd turned the final page... I found Bea such an intriguing character - wily, and clever, but also an innocent, just trying to survive in extraordinary circumstances. I was also completely captivated by Salam's descriptions of the rain forest, and the houses, in fact all of the location, including the animals (and their droppings, cocoons, and larvae!) and the weather. All of it so immersive.' — Claire Fuller, author of OUR ENDLESS NUMBERED DAYS

‘A darkly comic and thrilling novel… Literal escapism.’ — Marta Bausells, Elle magazine

‘A powerful, at times unnerving, look at a marriage in crisis, belief, and survival.’ — Sarah Shaffi, Stylist, ‘April’s Best New Books’

 ‘This is a debut novel that promises big things for its young author. Half-Scottish, half-Palestinian Salam spent six months living on a small South Pacific Island. Out of her experiences, she’s fashioned a richly-textured, vivid tale (you can practically taste the papayas and smell the jungle).’ — Alexandra Newson, The Upcoming, ‘13 Must Read Books for 2018’