Three of Juliet Pickering’s authors have been named in the Shortlist for the fourth annual Green Carnation Prize. Kerry Hudson (THIRST, Chatto & Windus), Anneliese Mackintosh (ANY OTHER MOUTH, Freight) and Laurie Penny (UNSPEAKABLE THINGS, Bloomsbury) have been nominated for the prize which is awarded to LGBT writers for any form of the written word. This year was the first time the award was open to works in translation. The winner will be announced at an event at Foyles, Charing Cross Road on 28 November.
THIRST by Kerry Hudson follows Alena and Dave who meet during a London heatwave to begin a love affair as dark, joyful and frenetic as the city itself. Dave is drawn to Alena's passion for life, while Alena discovers that sex can be more than a transaction and that love and safety are priceless commodities. But a relationship founded on secrets is easily shattered, and when Alena's ex-lover arrives, threatening to expose her, Alena flees. By the time Dave overcomes his mistrust about Alena and follows her into the bitter Russian winter, he can only hope he's not too late to convince her that just as spring will come, second and even third chances can always be found.
Anneliese Mackintosh’s ANY OTHER MOUTH is a viciously funny, gut-wrenching and shockingly frank account of sexual misadventure, familial disintegration, loss, hope and self-discovery. Part short story collection, part fictionalised memoir, ANY OTHER MOUTH is a highly personal work in which Anneliese takes the most intense episodes of her life so far, and reimagines them into profound, playful and poignant tales.
UNSPEAKABLE THINGS by Laurie Penny speaks for a new feminism that takes no prisoners, a feminism that is about justice and equality, but also about freedom for all. It talks about the freedom to be who we are, to love who we choose, to invent new gender roles, and to speak out fiercely against those who would deny us those rights. It is a book that gives the silenced a voice – a voice that speaks of unspeakable things.
Praise for the books:
“[THIRST] explores the lives of people not generally considered fit for literature and does so with wit and a shrewdness that makes Hudson's subjects zing from the page.” – The Guardian
‘One of the saddest yet most uplifting things I’ve read in ages… Mackintosh is a real talent and ANY OTHER MOUTH is a remarkable debut.’ – The Independent
‘Insightful, provocative and bold… UNSPEAKABLE THINGS [is] essential for anybody who truly believes in equality and freedom.’ – Irvine Welsh