MAY GOD FORGIVE longlisted for the 2023 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award

We are delighted that MAY GOD FORGIVE by Alan Parks has been longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.

The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year is one of the most prestigious prizes in crime fiction in the UK. It is presented by Harrogate International Festivals and recognises the best crime novels published in the UK and Ireland in paperback.

The public are now invited to vote for the six titles to make up the shortlist: https://harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com/vote/

Voting closes on 18 May.

The shortlist will be announced on 15 June, when the public vote for the winner will open. The winner of the £3,000 prize will be revealed at Harrogate on 20 July, on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, which will be celebrating its 20th year.

You can watch an interview with all the longlisted authors, including Alan, here: https://harrogatetheakstoncrimeaward.com/author-interviews/

MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth title in Alan Parks’ highly acclaimed Harry McCoy series. It won the McIlvanney Scottish Crime Book of the Year award and was recently longlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger.

After a fatal arson attack leaves tempers frayed in Glasgow, McCoy finds himself in a race against time to find the suspects before they turn up dead one by one. In 2022 MAY GOD FORGIVE was published in the UK by Canongate and in the US by Europa. The series is sold in more than ten countries around the world and the paperback is out in the UK today, on 27 April. The next book in the series, TO DIE IN JUNE, will be released in the UK next month.

Praise for MAY GOD FORGIVE

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth instalment in a remarkable series that began with BLOODY JANUARY. The novels, as someone once said, can be read in any order; the important thing is to read them all.’ – Mark Sanderson, The Times

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is a bleak and violent book, full of grisly details not for the squeamish, but also tenderness, poignance and hard-earned wisdom.’ – Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal

‘Noir has long been the dominant colour in the palette of such Scottish writers as Ian Rankin and Denise Mina, but Parks manages to find a deeper shade of black, only slightly attenuated by Harry's willingness to go far off the grid to extract a wee bit of justice. A must for those who take their noir straight, no chaser; others should keep the Pepto handy.’ – Bill Ott, Booklist

‘Enjoyably readable… Parks is a gifted story-teller’ – Allan Massie, The Scotsman

‘Harry McCoy is the brightest dark star on the Tartan Noir scene for some time and in future critics of Scottish crime fiction will surely be referring to the triumvirate of Laidlaw, Rebus and McCoy … MAY GOD FORGIVE is crime fiction which pulls no punches, powerfully told and, at times, heartbreakingly poignant. One of the crime novels of 2022.’ – Mike Ripley, Getting Away With Murder

About Alan Parks

Photo: Euan Robertson

Alan Parks was Creative Director at London Records in the mid 1990’s, then at Warner Music, where he created ground-breaking campaigns for artists including All Saints, New Order, The Streets, Gnarls Barclay and Cee Lo Green. He was also Managing Director of 679 Recordings, a joint venture with Warner Music. His debut novel BLOODY JANUARY propelled him onto the international literary crime fiction scene immediately and his work has been hailed by contemporary writers and critics alike.

BLOODY JANUARY was shortlisted for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, FEBRUARY’S SON was nominated for an Edgar Award, BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER was picked as a Times Best Book of the Year, won an Edgar Award and has been shortlisted for the Macavity Award for Best Mystery novel, and THE APRIL DEAD was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year.

Alan was born in Scotland and attended The University of Glasgow where he was awarded a M.A. in Moral Philosophy. He still lives and works in the city that is so vividly depicted in the 1970s setting of his Harry McCoy thrillers.

Visit Alan’s website

Follow Alan on Twitter

Tom Benn, Alan Parks and Deon Meyer longlisted for CWA Daggers 2023

We are delighted that three Blake Friedmann authors have had their recent crime novels longlisted in this year’s Crime Writers’ Association Daggers. OXBLOOD by Tom Benn is longlisted for the Gold Dagger, the award for the overall best crime novel of the year. Deon Meyer’s THE DARK FLOOD, translated by K.L. Seegers, is on the longlist for the Dagger for Crime Fiction in Translation. MAY GOD FORGIVE by Alan Parks has been longlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger, for the best espionage, psychological, or adventure thriller novel.

The Crime Writers’ Association Daggers are the oldest awards of the genre and among the most prestigious. The Daggers shortlists will be announced on 12 May at Crimefest and the winners at a gala dinner on 6 July.

Photo: Benjamin Mathers

OXBLOOD follows three generations of women as they try to come to terms with the bloody legacy of their family in 1980s Manchester. Told in vivid, visceral prose, OXBLOOD was published by Bloomsbury in April 2022, and recently earned Tom the 2022 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. Translation rights have been sold in Spain and the paperback is just out in the UK.

‘One of the most powerful and urgent writers of our times.’ – David Peace

‘A compelling and deeply unsettling experience… a novel that glitters with the dark energy and lifeblood of its characters.’ – Naomi Booth

Tom Benn is an author, screenwriter and lecturer from Stockport, England. His first novel, THE DOLL PRINCESS, was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Portico Prize, and his creative nonfiction has appeared in The Paris Review Daily. His first film Real Gods Require Blood premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short Film at the BFI London Film Festival.

THE DARK FLOOD sees detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido demoted and sent to the leafy university town of Stellenbosch, but an apparently humdrum missing person case soon takes a disturbing turn. THE DARK FLOOD was first published by Human & Rousseau in 2020 in Afrikaans, where it became an instant #1 bestseller. The English edition, translated by K.L. Seegers, was published by Hodder in the UK and Grove Atlantic in the US in 2022, and was nominated for a Barry Award 2023. The paperback editions have just been published.

‘The best work yet from this gifted author.’ — Publishers Weekly

‘Deon Meyer’s Benny Griessel novels, featuring a detective in an elite crime squad in Cape Town, are a joy to read.’ – Joan Smith, The Sunday Times

Deon Meyer is an internationally bestselling and prizewinning author, who was awarded France’s highest arts honour, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters) in 2021. Rights in his titles are sold in 30 territories and 28 languages and many of his books have been optioned for film. He has been shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger three times and his books have won many prizes around the world, including the Deutsche Krimi Prize in Germany and Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique in France.

Photo: Euan Robertson

MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth title in Alan Parks’ highly acclaimed Harry McCoy series, and winner of the McIlvanney Scottish Crime Book of the Year. After a fatal arson attack leaves tempers frayed in Glasgow, McCoy finds himself in a race against to find the suspects, before they turn up dead one by one. In 2022 MAY GOD FORGIVE was published in the UK by Canongate and in the US by Europa. The series is sold in more than ten countries around the world and the paperback will be out in the UK this week, on 27 April 2023.

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is the fifth instalment in a remarkable series that began with BLOODY JANUARY. The novels, as someone once said, can be read in any order; the important thing is to read them all.’ – Mark Sanderson, The Times

‘MAY GOD FORGIVE is crime fiction which pulls no punches, powerfully told and, at times, heartbreakingly poignant. One of the crime novels of 2022.’ – Mike Ripley, Getting Away With Murder

Alan Parks was born in Scotland and worked in the music business before becoming a full-time writer. His debut novel BLOODY JANUARY propelled him onto the international literary crime fiction scene and his work has been hailed by contemporary writers and critics alike. He still lives and works in Glasgow, the city that is so vividly depicted in the 1970s setting of his Harry McCoy thrillers.

Blake Friedmann Announces New Carole Blake Open Doors Mentorship

We are delighted to announce that we are launching a new mentorship programme, to run in addition to our existing Carole Blake Open Doors Project internship scheme.

The mentorship was inspired by a Bookseller piece, which highlighted the difficulties of taking time away from full or part time work or other responsibilities in order to take up an internship and find a way into publishing. Internships are often inaccessible still to those who may have caring commitments or need to sustain income and can’t afford to take time off, and/or live beyond London. The idea of the mentorship is to offer a flexible longer-term relationship with the agency – led by Juliet Pickering and supported by the entire agency – and to meet once a month (online) over the course of six months to learn about the role of an agent, get an insight into working with books more broadly, and develop some valuable skills for a future career in publishing.

We hope that this new mentorship will further open doors to people who remain under-represented in the industry, and are proud to add it to our pioneering Carole Blake Open Doors Project programme, which launched in 2016 and has helped many interns into roles within publishing.

Juliet Pickering said: “We’re launching this mentorship in an effort to do more to offer access: it’s clear that London-based schemes or those that require candidates to take leave from their jobs, are still impossible for many. By offering this mentorship over six months, at times that might fit around a candidate’s other commitments, we hope that we might be giving more people a way in. The industry is missing out on a raft of exciting, talented employees by continuing to hold up these barriers to entry, so we hope to help break through and bring more great people into working with books. We’ll be offering career advice and guidance on seeking jobs, alongside work experience, and can’t wait to meet our first Open Doors mentee!”

Applications for both the internship and the mentorship open on Monday 24th April (closing on Monday 8th May at 5pm), and more details of how to apply can be found here:

http://blakefriedmann.co.uk/carole-blake-open-doors-project 

Headline Review swoops for HOW TO FIND A LOST LOVE by Norie Clarke

We are hugely excited to announce that Headline Review has snapped up HOW TO FIND A LOST LOVE by Norie Clarke. Publisher Sherise Hobbs acquired the rights  from Blake Friedmann’s Vice Head of Books Juliet Pickering, and the novel will be published in January 2024.

HOW TO FIND A LOST LOVE celebrates the joy of finding unexpected friendship in a story which also pays tribute to the lost art of writing a love letter.

When newly single Jess responds to an advert for a lodger, she meets Joan, living alone in her seventies in a Notting Hill house full of memories. When Jess learns Joan has a long-lost love, with whom she used to exchange letters via the Lonely Hearts column, Jess decides to search for him, little realising that in Joan’s story lies her own unexpected new beginning.

Sherise Hobbs said: ‘HOW TO FIND A LOST LOVE is as life-affirming as it is romantic. The two lead characters challenge each other to make a switch – Jess will come off-line and start writing letters if Joan will brave going on-line; a leap which changes both their lives in the most remarkable of ways. We can’t wait for readers to discover it next year.’

Norie Clarke said: ‘I’m thrilled and amazed to be working with Sherise and the stellar team at Headline Publishing. I hope readers will grow to love Jess and Joan in HOW TO FIND A LOST LOVE as much as I loved creating them.’

Juliet Pickering said: ‘Jess and Joan work build a compelling, moving and beautiful friendship together, and create a story that’s unforgettable. I loved Norie’s tender writing from the outset and can’t wait for readers to relish it too.’

About Norie Clarke

Norie Clarke lives in a beautiful village by the sea with her husband, son and dogs. When not writing, Norie can be found in her studio at the bottom of her garden playing the piano and trying, not very well, to draw.

‘A Short Trip to Tesco’ by Shani Akilah Longlisted for the Writers’ & Artists’ Short Story Competition 2023

Congratulations to Shani Akilah, whose story ‘A Short Trip to Tesco’ has been longlisted for the  Writers’ & Artists’ Short Story Competition 2023.

Shani’s story was one of sixteen selected from over 850 entries to this year’s competition, themed around ‘Writing Love’. The announcement of the shortlist and winner, picked by writer Naomi Booth (EXIT MANAGEMENT, SEALED), will be made on the Writers’ & Artists’ website by the end of April. The winner will receive a place on an Arvon Foundation Writing Retreat.

‘A Short Trip to Tesco’ will appear in Shani’s upcoming debut short story collection.

Picture: Jonathan Osibo

About Shani Akilah

 Shani Akilah is a 28 year-old Black-British writer from South London of Caribbean heritage (Guyana, Barbados and Jamaica). She is an avid reader and book blogger and was spotlighted as a ‘Key Black Influencer’ by DoubleDay Books.

 Shani is passionate about community and bringing people together and is the co-founder of Nyah Network, a book club for black women and is also the founder of contributor based platform, Bankra, that explored the navigated identities of black millennials.

 Shani loves travelling, and has spent significant time in Ghana as part of her studies. Shani has a Masters degree in African Studies from Oxford University with research exploring counter-diasporic return and issues of home and belonging amongst second-generation British-Ghanaians.

 Follow Shani on Twitter.
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