Kerry Hudson shortlisted for Polari First Book Prize

TONY HOGAN BOUGHT ME AN ICE CREAM FLOAT BEFORE HE STOLE MY MA by Kerry Hudson has been chosen as one of five shortlist titles for the Polari First Book Prize. The Polari First Book Prize is for a first book which explores the LGBT experience and is open to any work of poetry, prose, fiction or non-fiction published in the UK in English in the last year. The £1000 prize will be awarded at Polari's Sixth Birthday in the Purcell Room on 13 November 2013. For more information about the prize and the rest of the shortlist, click here. 

TONY HOGAN... was published in July 2012 by Chatto & Windus and has been shortlisted for nine literary prizes so far, including the Guardian First Book Award. Kerry's second novel, THIRST, will be published by Chatto in July 2014.
 

Praise for TONY HOGAN...:

'What a brilliant thing to turn the chaos and trauma of a hectic childhood into a debut novel as colourful, funny, joyful and compelling as this.'
- The Guardian

'This is a remarkable debut novel of love and loyalty, of fierce passion and scabrous wit.'
- Foyles

'From the (unrepeatable) hilarious first sentence, this debut sucks you in with its idiosyncratic style... Kerry Hudson's writing is very funny, and her deft touches give the book a reality that makes it all the more powerful. Hudson certainly has a bright future.'
- We Love This Book

THE GUILTY earns glowing reviews after its opening hour...

The tense and suspenseful first episode of Debbie O'Malley's THE GUILTY aired last night, and here's a snippet of what the reviewers are saying:

***** A feast of red herrings as ITV serves up another crime classic... there was a moment of scene setting that was so clever I wanted to stand up and applaud... Catch up if you missed it last night: it promises to be unmissable.
The Daily Mail

When ITV get it right, they get it so right with their crime drama... extremely enjoyable and striking
The Huffington Post

Powerful new three-part drama... It's terrifically done (and) very well acted too... Who did it? I have no idea.... 
The Daily Express

Heartbreaking and harrowing - and it's only the first episode...
Entertainmentwise

We're so looking forward to next week's episode - if you missed it, catch up here.

Juliet Pickering named one of The Bookseller's Rising Stars of 2013

The Bookseller magazine has published its list of up-and-comers of the publishing world, which they've been doing annually for three years - and we're delighted to note that our very own Juliet Pickering is among those chosen for the accolade.

Singled out for her proactive agenting style and excellent client list, The Bookseller's Tom Tivnan and Felicity Wood wrote of Juliet:

We're very proud of Juliet's achievements, and, on an unrelated note, extremely fond of her baking (which she kindly allows us to sample on a regular basis).

Read the full announcement article here.

HEAP HOUSE, the first in Edward Carey’s IREMONGER trilogy is published today by Hot Key Books

Today's the day that Hot Key Books release HEAP HOUSE, the first novel in the IREMONGER trilogy by Edward Carey. HEAP HOUSE is published in beautiful hardback complete with illustrations by Edward himself.

The book, which will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl and Mervyn Peake, young and old alike, tells the story of Clod Iremonger and his eccentric family ('kings of mildew, moguls of mould'), all of whom must carry 'birth objects' as a matter of course, and who make their fortune from the collective detritus of a Dickensian London. When Clod begins to hear objects from the heaps speaking out, everything is shifting, and with the arrival of orphan, Lucy Pennant, Clod will have to decide where he belongs.

Novelist, visual artist and playwright Edward Carey is the author of two acclaimed novels, published in many countries around the world. OBSERVATORY MANSIONS was shortlisted for the Borders Discover New Writers Award and ALVA AND IRVA was longlisted for the 2005 IMPAC Literary Award. Both were accompanied by artworks by the author.

Rights to all three titles were sold to Bompiani in Italy, RBA in Spain, Grasset in France and Bertrand in Brazil and HEAP HOUSE will be published by HarperCollins Canada later this year.

Read a Booktrust review of HEAP HOUSE here.

Read Edward Carey's blog about the writing of HEAP HOUSE here.

Read a guardian article on Edward's Top Ten Writer/Illustrators here.

Scottish First Book Award for Kerry Hudson!

TONY HOGAN BOUGHT ME AN ICE CREAM FLOAT BEFORE HE STOLE MY MA by Kerry Hudson has won the First Book award at the Scottish Mortgage Development Trust Book Awards 2013. The Scottish Book Awards has been rewarding the literary talent of authors from Scotland, who reside in Scotland, or those whose book is of particular Scottish interest, for the last forty years. Past winners include Jackie Kay and Edwin Morgan.

Kerry Hudson wins £5,000 and is now eligible to win the overall prize which is chosen by votes from the general public. The winner will be announced on Saturday 2nd November at the Lennoxlove Book Festival. The other finalists are Ewan Morrison in the fiction category, Gavin Francis in the non-fiction category and Richard Price in the poetry category. You can see more information here.

>TONY HOGAN... was published in July 2012 by Chatto & Windus and has been shortlisted for eight literary prizes so far, including the Guardian First Book Award. Kerry's second novel, THIRST, will be published by Chatto in July 2014.

Praise for TONY HOGAN...:

'What a brilliant thing to turn the chaos and trauma of a hectic childhood into a debut novel as colourful, funny, joyful and compelling as this.'
- The Guardian

'This is a remarkable debut novel of love and loyalty, of fierce passion and scabrous wit.'
- Foyles

'From the (unrepeatable) hilarious first sentence, this debut sucks you in with its idiosyncratic style... Kerry Hudson's writing is very funny, and her deft touches give the book a reality that makes it all the more powerful. Hudson certainly has a bright future.'

- We Love This Book