Bridget Walsh triumphs at 2024 HWA Crown Awards

THE TUMBLING GIRL, the first title in Bridget Walsh’s sharp and witty Variety Palace Mystery series, has triumphed at this year’s HWA Crown Awards, winning the prestigious HWA Debut Crown Award.

The HWA Awards celebrate the best historical writing, fiction and non-fiction, and its ability to engage, illuminate, entertain and inform legions of readers. To be considered, the bulk of the work must take place at least thirty-five years prior to publication.

The winners of all the 2024 HWA Crown Awards were revealed at an awards party at St Ethelburga’s Centre in Bishopsgate on Wednesday 20th November – with DISOBEDIENT by Elizabeth Freemantle winning the Gold Crown Award and FOUR SHOTS IN THE NIGHT by Henry Hemming winning the Non-fiction Crown Award.

The judges for the 2024 Debut Crown Award were Ayo Onatade (chair), Dan Bassett and Susan Heads. On THE TUMBLING GIRL they said: ‘Recreates all the atmosphere of a Victorian music hall. Gripping plot and a clever insight into the world of the dark theatrical underworld.’

HWA Chair Imogen Robertson commented: ‘We were delighted that so many publishers submitted books to the Crown Awards this year and are very grateful for their support. It’s wonderful to see the rich range of historical fiction being published in the UK… Every book that was long- and shortlisted is an excellent read, offering new insights about the past and compelling storytelling, be they fiction or non-fiction. I encourage all history and literature lovers to dive in. And huge, huge congratulations to the winners for taking the crowns in another highly competitive year.’

THE TUMBLING GIRL was first published by Gallic Books in May 2023, and prior to publication it won the UEA Little, Brown Award for Crime Fiction. It was also shortlisted for the 2024 Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) ILP John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and reached No. 1 in the US Amazon Kindle New Historical Thriller Chart. It sees an unlikely duo – ex-actress Minnie Ward and private detective Albert Easterbrook – team up to solve a grisly spate of murders in Victorian London.

The hotly anticipated sequel, THE INNOCENTS, was published by Gallic Books earlier this year to great acclaim, and the next novel in the series, THE SPIRIT GUIDE, will be published by Pushkin Press in 2026. THE SPIRIT GUIDE sees Minnie and Albert uncovering the dark secrets behind a female-only spiritualist group that purports to help its members commune with deceased loved ones.

About Bridget Walsh

Bridget Walsh lives in Norwich. She has a PhD in ‘Murder in the Victorian Domestic Sphere’ and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia.

Praise for THE TUMBLING GIRL

‘Bridget Walsh’s THE TUMBLING GIRL is the first in what promises to be an entertaining series of historical mysteries… a narrative that neatly weds historical detail and quiet wit.’ – Nick Rennison, The Sunday Times, ‘The best historical fiction books of May 2023’

‘Ms. Walsh does a splendid job depicting Minnie’s flea-bitten yet appealing theatrical world and Albert’s monied yet treacherous milieu.’ – Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

‘Walsh impresses in this series launch featuring an unlikely pair of investigators in 1876 London… diligent research pays off in spades here, and her rich and nuanced portrayal of the period will leave readers feeling like they’re on the soggy streets of London. Imogen Robertson readers will be eager for a sequel to this un-put-downable mystery.’ – Publishers Weekly, starred review and a ‘Books of the Week’ pick

‘Walsh resurrects the culture and crimes of Victoriana without cliché or condescension, but with warmth, wit, remarkable texture and rare authority.’ – Tom Benn

‘Smart, funny and expertly plotted, THE TUMBLING GIRL cartwheels off the page. I loved my time with these characters. A cracking start to a charismatic and distinctive series.’ – Emma Styles

Visit Bridget’s website.

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‘Lech, Prince, and the Nice Things’ by Rue Baldry wins Canada and Europe category in the 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize

Photo credit: Rachel Gladwin

Rue Baldry’s short story ‘Lech, Prince, and the Nice Things’ has won the Canada and Europe regional category in the 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from any of the Commonwealth’s 56 Member States, with regional winners each receiving £2,500 in prize money as well as publication in Granta Magazine, while the overall winner wins £5,000. This year there were a total of 6,642 entries from 56 Commonwealth countries, with 28 writers from 19 different Commonwealth countries making the final shortlists.

The overall winner is selected from the list of regional winners, and will be revealed on the 27th June 2023.  The other 2023 category winners are: ‘The Undertaker's Apprentice’ by Hana Gammon (Africa), ‘Oceans Away from my Homeland’ by Agnes Chew (Asian),‘Ocoee’ by Kwame McPherson (Caribbean), and ‘Kilinochchi’ by Himali McInnes (Pacific).

Rue’s story, ‘Lech, Prince, and the Nice Things’ is the story of a young plasterer working on a basement conversion who is lured to the upper floors of the building, where he finds the ‘nice things’ of the title, and commits acts of petty revenge on them.

The story began, Baldry says, during the spring of 2020, during the first UK pandemic lockdown and the Black Lives Matter protests. She says, ‘The neighbours on both sides of our terraced house were having major building work done. Unable to write, I started to think about the experiences of workers in the building trade, and other working-class jobs, who were being disproportionately exposed to the virus. At the same time I was reading a lot of posts about the subtle (as well as blatant) racisms experienced by People of Colour in the UK, which reminded me of experiences of friends.’

Katrina Best, the judge representing the Canada and Europe region, said that ‘Lech, Prince, and the Nice Things’ is ‘a genuinely surprising and unexpectedly moving story that explores such weighty – and timely – topics as racism, classism and inequality in modern-day Britain, yet is never heavy-handed thanks to the writer’s comedic sensibility and talent for observing the minutiae of everyday life. The writer’s considerable skill is evident in every element of this story, including deft observations, evocative descriptions, fully realised, complex and sympathetic characters, believable dialogue, and an expertly crafted narrative that is infused throughout with wry humour.’

On the judging process, chair of the judges Bilal Tanweer said that ‘it was both an agony and a pleasure to choose the overall winner from each region. All of the winning stories demonstrated impressive ambition and deep love for storytelling, combined with an intimate understanding of place and a real mastery of the craft. The judges were unanimous in their admiration of these stories and how they sought to tackle difficult metaphysical and historical questions.’

Rue’s debut novel, DWELL, is a moving coming-of-age and LGBT+  story, exploring themes of trauma, healing and belonging in the aftermath of World War One.

About Rue Baldry

Rue Baldry writes fiction and lives in York. In 2015, she was mentored by Ross Raisin as a Jerwood/ Arvon mentee. In 2017, she was the Bridge Awards/ Moniack Mhor Emerging Writer. Rue has come second in the Yeovil Prize, been shortlisted for the Flash 500 competition and longlisted for the Caledonian, Bridport, First Page and Women’s Prize Discoveries prizes. Twenty-four of her short stories have been published in journals including Ambit, Fairlight Shorts, Mslexia, Crossways, Litro, MIR Online, Postbox, The Incubator, The First Line and The Honest Ulsterman, and shortlisted in the Reader Berlin and Odd Voice Out competitions.

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Tom Benn wins The 2022 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award

We are delighted to announce that Tom Benn has won the 2022 Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Trust Young Writer of the Year Award for his novel OXBLOOD, published by Bloomsbury.

The award celebrates fiction, non-fiction and poetry by British or Irish authors aged 35 or under: recent winners include Sally Rooney, Max Porter, Sarah Howe, Raymond Antrobus and Cal Flyn. Its fuller alumni list includes Robert Macfarlane, Sarah Waters, Simon Armitage, Naomi Alderman, Caryl Phillips, Andrew Cowan and Zadie Smith, among others.

The other titles on this year’s shortlist were LARGER THAN AN ORANGE by Lucy Burns, MAPS OF OUR SPECTACULAR BODIES by Maddie Mortimer and SUPER-INFINITE by Katherine Rundell.

On Tom’s win, Sunday Times literary editor Johanna Thomas-Corr commented: ‘Tom’s story about the struggles of three generations of women in a Manchester crime clan has been rendered with care and specificity. The result is an atmospheric family saga that contains so much buried love, anger, grief, sexual jealousy and bitter disappointment… Yet somehow I emerged from it exhilarated!’

Chair of the 2022 judging panel Andrew Holgate added: ‘What a voice Tom Benn has got, what a feel for character and place, and what an uncompromising approach he has to his subject and material. He inhabits his milieu of 1980s Manchester with total conviction. We were bowled over as a judging panel by OXBLOOD.’

Sebastian Faulks, Chair of the Charlotte Aitken Trust, presented the award, having chaired the shortlist readings at Waterstones Piccadilly the previous night. The judging panel included critic and journalist Stig Abell, poet Mona Arshi, author Oyinkan Braithwaite, and novelist and earlier winner of the prize, Francis Spufford.  Stig Abell said OXBLOOD ‘is a book to get lost headlong in’ and Mona Arshi called it ‘one of those rare books where place and time are conjured so effortlessly, the cast of characters drawn with so much ease and grace.’ Oyinkan Braithwaite called it ‘a propulsive, bountiful, fearless work of art’ and Francis Spufford added that OXBLOOD ‘shows us that there are few places literature can’t take us, if the writer is brave enough, and gifted enough.’

See more on news of Tom’s win and praise from the judges for OXBLOOD:
http://www.youngwriteraward.com/tombenn/#

Watch a video of Tom talking about OXBLOOD before the prize announcement:
https://twitter.com/YoungWriterYear/status/1630656368418889739?s=20

See an interview with Tom after winning the prize:
https://twitter.com/Waterstones/status/1635981676596834305?s=20

Read an extract from OXBLOOD in Granta:
https://granta.com/oxblood/

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 in hardback in April 2022 and was also longlisted for the 2022 Gordon Burn Prize. The paperback edition will be published in April. Translation rights have recently been sold in Spain.

More Praise for OXBLOOD:

‘Brilliant’ – Denise Mina

‘The master of northern noir… a richly layered tale of a Mancunian crime clan set in the 1980s, of decaying mills, rising unemployment and rampant drug dealing. This atmospheric novel, which was also longlisted for the Gordon Burn prize 2022, explores the legacy of violent men through the three generations of working-class women left behind’ – Johanna Thomas-Corr, The Sunday Times

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

‘If I read a better novel than OXBLOOD in 2022, it’ll be a blinding year for fiction. Tom Benn, please take a bow. Everybody else, please take note.’ – Joseph Knox author of SIRENS and TRUE CRIME

‘Powerful and so beautifully written – like David Peace wrote Alan Warner’s The Sopranos and so lyrical, too.’ – Harriet Tyce, Sunday Times-bestselling author of BLOOD ORANGE         

‘Reading OXBLOOD is a compelling and deeply unsettling experience; this is a novel that glitters with the dark energy and lifeblood of its characters’ – Naomi Booth, author of THE LOST ART OF SINKING and EXIT MANAGEMENT             

‘More than anything, I was enamoured with Benn's audacity: to tell this raw, violent,  compassionate story; to use language in such a thrilling and fresh way; to explore the dark hearts of ordinary people, and to not look away when things get messy; to be, basically, this good.’ – D.W. Wilson, author of ONCE YOU BREAK A KNUCKLE

Credit: Benjamin Mathers

About Tom Benn:

Tom Benn is an author, screenwriter and lecturer from Stockport, England. His first novel, THE DOLL PRINCESS (Cape), was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Portico Prize, longlisted for the CWA’s John Creasey Dagger, and was The Daily Mirror's Book of the Week. His other novels are CHAMBER MUSIC (Cape) and TROUBLE MAN (Cape). He won runner-up prize in the 2019 International Desperate Literature Prize for Short Fiction, and his creative nonfiction has appeared in The Paris Review Daily. He won the BFI’s iWrite scheme for emerging screenwriters. 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.

His latest novel, OXBLOOD, was published by Bloomsbury in 2022 and was longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and won Tom the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award 2022. 

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DANI ATKINS WINS RNA CONTEMPORARY ROMANTIC NOVEL AWARD

The biggest of congratulations to Dani Atkins who has won the Contemporary Romantic Novel Award in the 2022 Romantic Novel Awards for her captivating novel A SKY FULL OF STARS.

Launched in 2015, the Romantic Novel Awards celebrate excellence in romantic fiction and this year’s winners were announced during an awards ceremony at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London City, 8-14 Cooper’s Row, London EC3N 2BQ, on Monday 7th March 2022. Best-selling novelist Jo Thomas led the ceremony, whilst BAFTA-longlisted film producer Lizzie Gillett presented the Jackie Collins Award for Romantic Thrillers, and Eastenders actor Larry Lamb presented the remainder of the awards.

Dani is already a recipient of a Romantic Novel Award, with THIS LOVE winning the Romantic Novel of the Year Award in 2018.

A SKY FULL OF STARS was published by Head of Zeus in the UK in February 2021 and follows the heart-breaking story of a family shattered by tragedy.

Alex, overwhelmed by his responsibilities as a single father, doesn’t know how he’ll carry on without his beloved wife Lisa. However, when he meets four strangers whose lives were profoundly changed by her, he begins to realise the world may not be as cruel and senseless as it seems. Perhaps, after all, the future is written in the stars...

And, in further Dani Atkins news, Dani’s latest novel SIX DAYS will be published by Head of Zeus in hardback on the 14th of April. You can pre-order it here.

Praise for A SKY FULL OF STARS

‘The subject matter is sensitively handled though have tissues on standby.’ — Belfast Telegraph

 ‘A powerful story addressing issues of love and loss - and just a hint that perhaps fate has brought them all together for a reason.’ — My Weekly   

 ‘The queen of emotional love stories returns with another gorgeous read . . . Don’t forget the tissues!’ — The Sun

 ‘A beautiful story.’ — Bella

 ‘Dani Atkins' captivating story is a rollercoaster of a read, infused with heart-breaking tragedy and an uplifting sense of hope.’ — Woman’s Own

 ‘It is impossible to get through a Dani Atkins novel without shedding a tear – or 20 –and this rule very much applies to this, her latest heart-wrenching romance… A book about grief and loss that also has a strong feel-good element to it too.’ — Isabelle Broom, Woman & Home, ‘24 of the best romance books to read whether you're after love or lust’

About Dani Atkins

Dani Atkins was born in London, and grew up in Cockfosters, Hertfordshire. She now lives in a 350-year-old cottage with her husband, one Siamese cat and a very soppy Border Collie.

Dani has been writing for fun all her life but, following the 2013 publication of her novel FRACTURED (Head of Zeus), she has made writing her full-time career. FRACTURED has since been published in sixteen languages and has sold more than half a million copies since first publication in the UK. In 2018, THIS LOVE won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award at the RNA awards in London.

Follow Dani on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Buy A SKY FULL OF STARS here.

JULIET PICKERING WINS RNA AGENT OF THE YEAR AWARD

We’re delighted that Juliet Pickering was named Agent of the Year 2021 at the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Winter Party and Industry Awards ceremony. Blake Friedmann founder, the late Carole Blake, took the RNA Agent of the Year trophy in 2016, and many agency clients have both won Awards, and been recognised on the RNA Awards lists over the years.

This annual award celebrates the literary agent who has supported, mentored, nurtured and promoted their authors’ careers, the genre in general and the RNA in particular.

Juliet has worked in publishing for 18 years. After graduating from university Juliet became a fiction buyer for Waterstones. She then joined AP Watt in 2003 and began to build a varied list there before joining Blake Friedmann in 2013. Since then, she has gone from strength to strength, becoming Vice Head of the Book Department in 2017 and stepping up to the Executive Board in 2020 – all the while supporting clients and staff alike with her expertise and encouragement. She represents an impressive range of clients, including RNA authors Sue Moorcroft and Annie Robertson.

See more about Juliet and her clients here.