JELLYFISH by Janice Galloway published next week

Janice Galloway’s new collection of short stories, JELLYFISH, will be published in the UK next week, on Monday 22 June, by Freight Books. This weekend, Janice will be starring on Open Book on BBC Radio 4, interviewed by Mariella Frostrup about JELLYFISH and her other work (Sunday at 4pm).

Janice will also be appearing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on the 20th of August this summer, talking about Sex, Life and Parenthood in relation to JELLYFISH. The talk will be chaired by Jackie McGlone.

JELLYFISH is a collection of twelve short stories which shows Janice - a master of the form - at her absolute best, and there are many powerful new ideas here. Confident and true, the rich themes - of parenthood, relationships, sexuality and madness - circulate and cohere around Janice's clever, absorbing writing. The first half of the collection digs deep into women's lives; later on, ‘Looking at You' and 'Opera' both startle and endure. This first publication will be a limited edition run of HB copies, before it is published in paperback next year, and the collection has already been longlisted for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Prize 2015.

Janice Galloway was born in Ayrshire in 1955. She is the author of three novels, two collections of short stories and, most recently, two memoirs. She has won and been shortlisted for numerous literary prizes, including the Whitbread First Novel and Scottish Book of the Year. She has been writer in residence to four Scottish prisons, Research Fellow to the British Library, resident at Jura Distillery, and was recently the first Fellow in Residence at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Her radio work includes two series for BBC (LIFE AS A MAN and IMAGINED LIVES) and programmes on music and musicians. She also works extensively with musicians, visual artists and typographers.

Praise for Janice Galloway:

‘She provides sentences blazing with light, a gorgeous draft of terror.’ – The Observer

‘Galloway catches detail perfectly and can create vivid impressions in a word or two.’ – The Times

‘Unsentimental, caustic, brilliantly observed ... The trick of her writing is how easy she makes it seem, how artfully she restructures and transforms the ordinary.’ – Time Out

THE SILK TREE by Julian Stockwin published in paperback by Allison & Busby today

Julian Stockwin’s THE SILK TREE is published in paperback today by Allison & Busby. There will be a LoveReading competition during the publication with copies of the book as prizes.

THE SILK TREE is a standalone novel which depicts the dramatic story of a pivotal point in history where a secret was stolen that changed the world forever. Global stakes, high personal risk, and atmospheric story-telling combine to tell of the quest to bring the closely-guarded secret of silk production out of China to the west. ‘Conn Iggulden meets Robert Harris’.

At 14 Stockwin joined a tough sea-training school, followed by the Royal Navy, transferring to the Royal Australian Navy when his family emigrated.  He saw active service in the Far East, the Antarctic, the South Seas and Vietnam, and was on board the Melbourne at the time of its disastrous peace time collision with the Voyager.  He later worked for NATO on the strategic deployment of merchant shipping. 

Stockwin is currently writing another KYDD novel for Hodder and another standalone, THE CRAKYS OF WAR, for Allison & Busby.

Praise for THE SILK TREE:

‘Julian Stockwin takes this tale and turns it into a fascinating story, full of colour and incident.’ – Historical Novel Society

‘This is a page-turning historical fiction of the first order written with great brio and opening the reader’s eyes to a world that, as the author says, ‘we in the 21st century can only wonder at.’ – The Good Book Guide

‘A non-stop, action packed adventure from 549 AD spanning the fascinating Roman and Chinese empires … The simple descriptive detailing eloquently brings the background to life; Julian Stockwin has the gift of allowing the reader to see lands for the first time through the eyes of Nicander and Marius. THE SILK TREE is an entertaining, enjoyable read and one you can gallop through in an easy sitting.’ – Liz Robinson, LoveReading

A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS by Robert Hudson opens at Chichester Festival Theatre to rave reviews

Robert Hudson has co-written the book for a musical adaptation of P.G. Wodehouse’s classic novel A Damsel in Distress, with songs by George and Ira Gershwin. The show has just opened at the Chichester Festival Theatre to glowing reviews.

A Damsel in Distress tells the story of George Bevan, an American composer staying in London to oversee the transfer of his hit musical from Broadway to the West End. He’s trying to add some new artistic credibility to his previously populist romp when Maud Marshmoreton bursts into his theatre. Sparks fly, but if George and Maud be are to be together, they’ll have to overcome the attentions of Maud’s aunt, the formidable Lady Caroline, and her ditzy son Reggie.

Robert’s musical runs until 27th June, and has received excellent reviews across the board:

‘This is an evening of sheer, evanescent summer fun.’ **** The Telegraph

‘Another canny triumph for Chichester’s creative team.’ **** Financial Times

‘A fizzing, fabulous summer treat of a show that should warm up the winter, too, when it transfers (as it must) to the West End.’ **** The Stage

‘There are perhaps only two words for this show: one is delightful and the other is ditzy.’ **** Daily Mail

‘If there is justice, it will transfer to the West End. It is as good as Crazy For You or Singing In The Rain, better than Top Hat and much, much better than High Society.’ ***** British Theatre

101 DETECTIVES by Ivan Vladislavić published by And Other Stories

101 DETECTIVES by Windham Campbell prize winner Ivan Vladislavić’ is published today by And Other Stories in the UK. Penguin Random South Africa’s Umuzi imprint have published in South Africa, and the collection has been longlisted for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Prize 2015.

You can read ‘Exit Strategy’ from the collection here, and a feature with Vladislavić and S. J. Naude in conversation here, both published by Granta Online.  An extract from the title story ‘101 Detectives’ appears in the Mail and Guardian South Africa and can be read here.

101 DETECTIVES follows a private-eye convention and a tussle over a Pierneef. A young man’s unsettling experience in the American South and a tragedy off the coast of Mauritius. A bizarre night of industrial theatre and a translator at a loss for words. These are but a few of the fictions in 101 DETECTIVES, a new collection of short stories by Ivan Vladislavić, one of South Africa’s most celebrated authors.

A collection of short stories launched his career as a writer. Twenty-six years and a whole oeuvre later, 101 DETECTIVES showcases Vladislavić’s virtuosity as he bends and recasts this literary form in spectacular fashion.

Later this year And Other Stories in the UK and Archipelago in the US will publish his debut novella THE FOLLY, while Tranan in Sweden and A1 in Germany will publish his novel DOUBLE NEGATIVE.

Ivan Vladislavić is the award-winning, critically-acclaimed author of a prestigious body of literary work.  Published in ten international markets, Ivan lives in Johannesburg, where he is a Distinguished Professor in Creative Writing at the University of the Witwatersrand. He has won and been shortlisted for South Africa’s most prestigious prizes and was awarded the Windham Campbell Prize 2015.  His work is included in the GRANTA BOOK OF THE AFRICAN SHORT STORY and Sylph Editions published A LABOUR OF MOLES in the prestigious Cahiers Series.

Praise for Ivan Vladislavić:

‘One of the most imaginative minds at work in South African literature today.’ – André Brink

‘Ivan Vladislavić is the most significant writer in South Africa today.’ –  Focus on Africa

'One of South Africa's most finely tuned observers' – Ted Hodgkinson, The Times Literary Supplement

'He is a deeply affecting writer. He prods and troubles the reader. You do not finish a Vladislavić book unchanged.' - Michele Magwood, BooksLIVE 

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN by Helen Walmsley-Johnson published by Icon Books today

Helen Walmsley-Johnson’s THE INVISIBLE WOMAN is published in the UK today by Icon Books.

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN is a funny, frank and essential book on ageing. Helen discusses what it is to reach your fifties, look both backwards and forwards, and how to continue pursuing adventures in later life even when it seems your brain and body are against you.

To give you a flavour of the book, here are some of our favourite quotes:

“The 'age 55 to 64' box is the God's waiting room of my form-filling life.”

“The older I become the more I feel deeply and symbiotically attached to my pyjamas.”

“Polyester is to menopausal women as garlic is to a vampire.”

“Ageism has sexism running through the middle like a stick of Blackpool rock.”

“As a middle-aged person I steadfastly refuse to be rushed into anything.”

“Keeping your mind open and curious is one of the most vital things you will ever do.”

Helen, writing as The Invisible Woman, is a freelance writer and author of the popular online fashion column The Vintage Years, which she wrote for the Guardian. She moved to London in 2001 after losing patience with rampant workplace ageism in Leicestershire and Rutland where she grew up, was educated and later brought up her three daughters as a divorced single mum. She has also worked as a dancer, aerobics instructor, model, designer, artist, medical secretary and shop assistant - but not at the same time.

Helen has written a variety of opinion pieces for the Guardian, is a regular contributor to Standard Issue, and has spoken out against ageism on Woman's Hour and BBC radio.

Praise for THE INVISIBLE WOMAN:

‘THE INVISIBLE WOMAN always speaks to me, and for me. It's about saying up yours to the cult of youth, but also about seeing the life of the 50 + as hilariously funny (not unlike the life of the 15 year old, when you come to think about it).’ – Professor Mary Beard

'THE INVISIBLE WOMAN in The Vintage Year reminds us that style and wit begin in youth but are mastered in middle-age. You can roundly stick your 20's. Hers is a voice for proper grown-ups not yet ready to come down, and I'm in.' - Alison Moyet