IN WATER I’M WEIGHTLESS by Kaite O’Reilly Shortlisted for the Inaugural James Tait Black Drama Prize

Kaite O'Reilly's play IN WATER I'M WEIGHTLESS is on the shortlist for the new James Tait Black Drama Prize. The shortlist of five was picked from more than 180 submissions. The winner will be announced at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh on 5th August.

The play, performed by a cast of deaf and disabled actors, explores our connection to our own bodies. The original National Theatre Wales production premiered at the Wales Millennium Centre, before transferring to London's Southbank Centre. It was commissioned as part of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival.

The new drama award sits alongside the James Tait Black awards for fiction and biography, Britain's oldest literary prizes. The £10,000 award is judged by representatives of the University of Edinburgh, the National Theatre Scotland and the Traverse Theatre.

Neil Murray, Executive Producer at The National Theatre of Scotland said: "It is an incredibly strong shortlist, of bold, provocative plays - exactly what this award sets out to recognise."

While Nicola McCartney, playwright and lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, said: "We are thrilled by the response to the first year of our drama prize. The James Tait Black Awards are renowned for showcasing the very best of literature and we are delighted to celebrate the work of playwrights this year.

"The shortlisted plays are of an incredibly high calibre and address a wide number of important issues - it will be a real challenge for the panel to choose a winner."

Ivan Vladislavic to take part in Festival of Literature and Thought of South of Africa

Ivan Vladislavic will be participating in the Festival of Literature and Thought of South of Africa, which will take place in Portugal on 21 - 23 June.

The festival will focus will focus on the impact that the end of apartheid in South Africa has had on the rest of the continent. In the session on literature, Vladislavic will be joined by Angolan writer Ondjaki and Kenya writer Binyavanga Wainaina.

The festival is presented by Proximo Futuro (Next Future), which is supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. For more information see Books Live.

Double Negative will be published in November by And Other Stories. For more information, see their website.
 

Praise for Ivan Vladislavic:

'One of the most imaginative minds at work in South African literature today.' -- André Brink

 'A rare, brilliant writer. Vladislavić's work eschews all cant. Its sheer verve distinguishes it.' -- Sunday Times (SA)  

'Ivan Vladislavić is one of a handful of writers working in South Africa after apartheid whose work will still be read in fifty years.' -- The White Review

'Ivan Vladislavic is the most significant writer in South Africa today.' -- Focus on Africa

Imraan Coovadia shortlisted for University of Johannesburg Prize, twice

Imraan Coovadia holds two of the three nominations for this year's main University of Johannesburg Prize for South African Writing in English. Both his novel THE INSTITUTE FOR TAXI POETRY and his collection of essays TRANSFORMATIONS have been shortlisted. The third title nominated is Ken Barris's LIFE UNDERWATER.

Previous winners include Damon Galgut and Blake Friedmann author Ivan Vladislavic, who was awarded it in 2007 for PORTRAIT WITH KEYS and in 2011 for DOUBLE NEGATIVE. Finuala Dowling and Michiel Heyns have also been shortlisted in the past.

The winner will be announced later this month, with the ceremony taking place later this year.

THE INSTITUTE FOR TAXI POETY has also been nominated for the South African Sunday Times Fiction Prize, which Imraan won in 2010 with his novel HIGH LOW IN-BETWEEN.

For more information, see this article on BooksLive.

Praise for Imraan Coovadia:

'Imraan Coovadia has a unique and marvellously talented voice.' -- Antjie Krog, author of COUNTRY OF MY SKULL

'Rather like a wittier Nuruddin Farah or a more politically sagacious V S Naipaul.' -- Isabel Hofmeyr, Sunday Independent

'Coovadia delivers…rollicking, entertaining prose. His dialogue is especially delicious.' -- Publishers Weekly

'Imraan Coovadia is turning into a national treasure as a novelist.' -- Jane Rosenthal

Lauren Beukes' THE SHINING GIRLS acquired by MRC and Appian Way

THE SHINING GIRLS by Arthur C. Clarke Award winner Lauren Beukes is to be released by Mulholland Books in the US tomorrow, and has already caused a strong buzz among readers of advance copies. The book was released by HarperCollins in the UK in April.

The book is a compelling mix of historical fiction, gritty crime and sci-fi, about a serial killer named Harper Curtis who discovers a house in Depression-era Chicago that allows him to time travel. To keep travelling, he must kill 'shining girls'; girls who burn bright with talent and potential. But the sole survivor of his attacks, Kirby Mazrachi, teams up with an ex-homicide reporter to bring the killer to justice.

Appian Way, Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, has acquired the rights to THE SHINING GIRLS along with MRC, in order to develop it for television; a 'rare but splashy' foray into the medium for them.

Kas Graham selected for Vipers Nest collective

The filmmaking co-operative supports new British talent who want to make commercial films.

The Vipers Nest 2, which opened for submissions in January, comprises 22 directors, writers and producers from backgrounds in TV, shorts, music videos, commercials and documentaries.

Samantha Horley of UK sales and finance outfit The Salt Company, who launched the initiative in 2010, said: "I was thrilled to bits to see the number and level of applicants we had this time around, meaning The Vipers Nest is seen as a real opportunity to advance a film career in the UK.

"I'm so excited to put 22 talented and diverse Vipers together, not just for mutual support and inspiration, but to see some magic happen". 

Among the first batch of Vipers were director Corin Hardy currently attached to direct The Good People, Grabberswriter Kevin Lehane and Weekend line-producer Rachel Dargavel.