THIRST BY KERRY HUDSON WINS PRIX FEMINA Etranger

Kerry Hudson’s second novel, THIRST, published by Editions Philippe Rey in France, and translated by Florence Levy-Paolini, has won the prestigious Prix Femina Etranger 2015, in an awards ceremony, today, in Paris.

This major French literary prize was created in 1904 and is judged each year by an exclusively female jury. Kerry finds herself in excellent company amongst past winners, who include Edward Saint Aubyn, Joyce Carol Oates, Ian McEwan, Amos Oz and J. M. Coetzee.

Since its publication(s), THIRST has gained great European attention: in the UK Kerry was chosen by retailer WH Smith for their Fresh Talent promotion; in France, LA COULEUR DE L’EAU has been receiving stunning reviews and has been picked out across the media as a highlight of the 2015 ‘Rentree Litteraire’. The first chapter of the novel appeared in July on Le Bien Public, and the novel was reviewed and mentioned by the main French cultural papers, from Le Parisienne to La Montagne. In Italy, SETE has been a favourite with booksellers, and again received some fantastic reviews.

Liberation says: ‘With her beautiful first novel last year, Kerry Hudson is back on top form with THIRST’

Femme Actuelle says: ‘A wonderful book, as brilliant as it is moving’

THIRST is a contemporary love story from Scottish First Book Award winner Kerry Hudson. It was published in 2014 by Chatto, and translated into French (Editions Philippe Rey) and Italian (Minimum Fax).

Alena and Dave are both on the run from disaster, and meet during a London heatwave to begin a love affair as dark, joyful and frenetic as the city itself. Dave, who has built a carefully controlled world of self-denial and isolation, 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 her past, 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. THIRST is a heart-breaking romance of almost unbearable fragility based in contemporary East London and rural Russia.

Born in Aberdeen, Kerry Hudson grew up in a succession of council estates, B&Bs and caravan parks which provided her with a keen eye for idiosyncratic behaviour, material for life, and a love of travel. She was chosen as a Bookseller Rising Star 2014 for her work on the WoMentoring project. She currently divides her writing time and affections between Hackney and Hanoi, and is working on her third novel.

 Praise for 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.’ – Guardian

 'Tremendously affecting… impressively unostentatious' – Metro

 ‘Heart-wrenching without being maudlin, THIRST is a novel about the scraps of hope that people find when they’re completely out of options… Hudson has an eye for detail and her meticulous research shows without bogging down the narrative. There are villains, but no obvious heroes. It’s a bleak outlook, but Hudson makes it beautiful.’ – The Independent  

Tannie Maria arrives in North America! - RECIPES FOR LOVE & MURDER launched

RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER, the sensational debut Tannie Maria mystery from South African novelist Sally Andrew, is published today in the US by Ecco Press and Canada by Harper Collins. The novel is already published in Australia by Text, South Africa by Umuzi (see more on Sally’s Cape Town launch here) and on special ebook pre-release by Canongate in the UK, with the print edition out in January. The UK audiobook will be released on 19 November and Good Housekeeping has already picked it as one of their ‘Hot Reads’.

The novel has already received some brilliant reviews in the US, with a starred review from Kirkus, who called it ‘a delightful debut, tender and funny’. Shelf Awareness wrote: ‘With a dash of South African history and a pinch of social consciousness, Tannie Maria's first adventure serves up a satisfying mix of romance, humor and crime solving.’ Library Journal also gave the novel a starred review, writing:

‘Take a pinch of Alexander McCall Smith, a dash of Diane Mott Davidson, and add a smidge of the wild veld and you’ll get a taste for this lekker story (that’s “delicious” in Afrikaans). While the tone is heartfelt, Andrew doesn’t shy away from the realities of spousal abuse or the shadow of South Africa’s tumultuous history. With a fascinating setting, engaging characters, and a full complement of drool-worthy recipes, this is sure to leave readers craving more.’ – Starred Library Journal

RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER: A TANNIE MARIA MYSTERY marks the start of a delicious new mystery series with a lovable, unforgettable heroine. Tannie Maria used to write a recipe column for the Klein Karoo Gazette. Then Head Office decided they wanted an advice column instead, so now she gives advice. In the form of recipes. Because, as she says, she may not know much about love, but food—that’s her life.

Everything has been going well. A tongue-tied mechanic wins his girl with text messages and Welsh rarebit. A frightened teenager gets some much-needed sex ed with Tannie Maria's chocolate-coated bananas. But then there is a letter from Martine, whose husband beats her, and Tannie Maria feels a pang of recognition and dread. This may be a problem that cooking can’t solve…

Warm, funny, poignant: Sally Andrew’s irresistible heroine brings mystery, romance and amazing cooking together in the most entertaining new series in years. And all Tannie Maria’s mouthwatering recipes are right there in the book! 

Sally Andrew divides her time between the Cape Town coast and a nature reserve near Ladismith in the Klein Karoo, which she shares with her artist partner, a giant eland and a secretive leopard. Her work is being translated into 11 languages.

Praise for RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER:

‘Vivid, amusing and immensely enjoyable read about detection (and cooking) in an intriguing part of southern Africa. …  A triumph.’ – Alexander McCall Smith

 ‘A culinary and linguistic treat … and has a pleasing bite.’ – Cathy Rentzenbrink, Editor’s Choice, The Bookseller

 ‘Sally Andrew’s Karoo is where miscreants, moskonfyt and murder are all on the menu. Thank heavens for Tannie Maria who cooks up a storm in the kitchen - but she’s just as good at cracking crime. RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER is a delightful debut.’ – Christopher Hope

FROM ONE END OF THE GLOBE TO THE OTHER – BESTSELLER TONY PARK CELEBRATES ANZ PUBLICATION AND MAJOR NEW UK DEAL FOR AN EMPTY COAST

Tony Park’s AN EMPTY COAST is out now in Australia from Pan Macmillan Australia, and will be published next month in South Africa and the UK by Macmillan. Tony will be touring in Australia in the coming weeks, heading to Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne, along with numerous events in Sydney. For more event details check the Pan Macmillan website.

Joining their Australian colleagues, Macmillan Adult Books Publisher Jeremy Trevathan and Fiction Senior Editor Catherine Richards have acquired UK & Commonwealth Rights, excluding Australia, New Zealand and Canada, for AN EMPTY COAST and a further novel by Tony Park from Isobel Dixon at Blake Friedmann.  AN EMPTY COAST will be out in southern Africa in November, along with extensive author appearances. In the UK the e-book edition will be available before Christmas, with the print edition out in 2016. Tony Park said: ‘I’m thrilled to have this new deal with Macmillan Publishing in the UK and South Africa. I’m already published by Pan Macmillan in Australia so there are many benefits to being “in the fold” internationally. Macmillan was initially responsible for getting my books established in South Africa so I’m looking forward to re-connecting with old friends there and in the UK. I think this deal is good news for my readers in these markets.’

Isobel Dixon of Blake Friedmann said: ‘This year Macmillan have won Publisher of the Year in the UK and also in Australia, where Tony Park is already a bestseller, and I’m delighted that with this deal they’re joining forces to sell his hugely popular thrillers and bring them to even more readers. It’s a return to Macmillan South Africa as well for Tony, and I know together they’ll be pulling out all the stops with AN EMPTY COAST and beyond.’

Catherine Richards of Pan Macmillan UK said: ‘We’re so excited to be publishing Tony in the UK – he brings the locations he loves to life so vividly through the eyes of his characters, and I know fans existing and new are going to love AN EMPTY COAST.’

Terry Morris of Pan Macmillan South Africa said: ‘We’re absolutely delighted to be publishing Tony in southern Africa again and look forward to building on his successful brand across the region. AN EMPTY COAST is guaranteed to thrill Tony’s fans and new readers alike and we look forward to publishing it this year.’

AN EMPTY COAST is Tony Park’s eleventh novel, and features the return of two of his most popular characters, Sonja Kurtz and Hudson Brand. Retired mercenary Sonja Kurtz is in Vietnam carrying out a personal revenge mission when her daughter Emma sends a call for help. Emma, a student archaeologist on a dig in Namibia, has discovered a body dating back to the country’s liberation war of the 1980s. The remains of an airman, identified as Hudson Brand, may help reveal the location of a modern day buried treasure – a find people will kill for. Sonja returns to Namibia to find her daughter, but then discovers that Emma has gone missing, and that former CIA agent Hudson Brand is very much alive, having been drawn back to solve a decades-old mystery, whose clues are entombed in an empty corner of the desert.

Tony Park grew up in Australia and fell in love with South Africa on a short trip in 1995: he and his wife now divide their time between two homes, one in Sydney and another in South Africa on the border of the Kruger National Park. Author of twelve bestselling thrillers, he has worked as a newspaper reporter in Australia and England, a government press secretary, a public relations consultant, and a freelance writer. He is also a major in the Australian Army Reserve and served six months in Afghanistan in 2002. His work has been sold in translation in seven countries. 

You can find out more about Tony Park on his website and his Facebook page and you can follow him on Twitter (especially if you want to see some marvellous images of African wildlife) on @tonyparkauthor. 

Job Available: Part-time Media Department Assistant

We’re looking for a new part-time assistant to work with our team of media agents three days per week across film, TV, theatre and radio writing clients. The right candidate will be enthusiastic about writers and writing, as well as film and television, and will ideally have some experience working or interning for either a production company or an agency.

The job will involve administrative tasks such as data entry, scanning, invoicing, word processing etc but will also involve script reading and coverage writing, liaising with clients and working on presentational material and correspondence.  We’re looking for someone with good presentation skills who can express themselves clearly, take the initiative, be meticulous, and handle clients with aplomb.

Strong IT skills are a must, and enthusiasm for social media and updating the website will be an advantage (training will be provided).

If you’re looking for a part-time, entry-level position in which you can learn the ropes of a busy media agency, then do drop us a line at filmsubmissions@blakefriedmann.co.uk including your CV (listing full GCSE, A-level and degree results) as well as your cover letter, and the date you’d be available to start.

We’d like to find someone for an immediate start, though we can work with a month’s notice for the right applicant. The salary level would be subject to experience. We are a relaxed and friendly team with a strong work ethic, so we’re looking for an assistant who will fit in well with that dynamic.

We look forward to hearing from you, and will endeavour to contact applicants selected for interview promptly. We cannot guarantee a response to every application, so if you have not heard from us within 6 weeks of emailing, your application was not successful.

JELLYFISH BY JANICE GALLOWAY SHORTLISTED FOR THE SALTIRE FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR

JELLYFISH, by Janice Galloway, has been shortlisted for the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year Award. Widely regarded as Scotland’s most prestigious book awards, the Saltire Society Literary Awards champion and support literary achievement. With awards for Fiction, Non- Fiction, First Book, History, Poetry, Research and an overall Book of the Year Award they aim to celebrate as broad a range of Scottish writing as possible. The final award ceremony will be in Edinburgh on the 26th of November, during Scottish Book Week.

JELLYFISH is a collection of short stories, published in the UK by Freight Books. Three stories from the collection were recently broadcast by BBC Radio 4, and the book has already been longlisted for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Prize 2015.

In this sparkling and powerful new collection, Janice Galloway takes on David Lodge's assertion – ‘Literature is mostly about having sex and not much about having children; life's the other way round’ and scent-marks her multi-layered fiction with what she believes to be the greater truth. These are razor sharp tales of two of the most powerful human experiences, by a master of short fiction.

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.

Praise for JELLYFISH:

 ‘Foreboding floats through the fourteen tales … Reminiscent of Sylvia Plath in its black humour and visceral imagery … These deft short stories show why publishers should have more faith in the form … Exquisite similes and witty metaphors rise up and sting the senses like the eponymous jellyfish. With this electrifying volume Galloway proves herself a truly powerful writer who deserves to be much better known.’ – The Independent

 ‘An exquisite short-story collection … Previously very much a city writer, here the natural world encroaches on Galloway’s work from the title onwards, both indifferent and essential.’ – The Guardian

 'This is a short story collection to savour, by one of the foremost Scottish writers of her generation.' – Irish Times