ALLIGATOR & OTHER STORIES by Dima Alzayat shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize

We are thrilled that Dima Alzayat’s collection of stories, ALLIGATOR & OTHER STORIES, has been shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2021. The shortlist is dominated by novels this year, with ALLIGATOR being the only exception, and four out of the six books, including ALLIGATOR, are from debut writers. The other books on the shortlist are Kingdomtide by Rye Curtis, The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi, Pew by Catherine Lacey, Luster by Raven Leilani and My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell.

Namita Gokhale, Chair of Judges, said: ‘We are thrilled to present this year’s extraordinary shortlist – it is truly a world-class writing showcase of the highest order from six exceptional young writers. I want to press each and every one of these bold, inventive and distinctive books into the hands of readers, and celebrate how they challenge preconceptions, ask new questions about how we define identity and our relationships, and how we live together in this world. Congratulations to these tremendously talented writers – they are master storytellers in every sense of the word.’

The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize was launched in 2006, to encourage raw creative talent worldwide and celebrate and nurture international literary excellence. One of the most prestigious awards for young writers, the £20,000 prize awarded to the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under. Past winners include Bryan Washington, Guy Gunaratne, Kayo Chingonyi, Fiona McFarlane and Max Porter.

The winner will be revealed on 13th May, the eve of International Dylan Thomas Day.

ALLIGATOR & OTHER STORIES was published in 2020 by Picador in the UK and by Two Dollar Radio in the US. It was also chosen as a finalist for the PEN America Robert W Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection.

Dima Alzayat’s first book, ALLIGATOR & OTHER STORIES is an intricate, thoughtful exploration of what it is to be ‘other’: as a Syrian, as an Arab, as an immigrant, as a woman. Each story of the stories is a snapshot of those moments when unusual circumstances suddenly distinguish us from our neighbours, when our difference is thrown into relief.

Here are ‘dangerous’ women transgressing, missing children in 1970s New York, a family who were once Syrian but have now lost their name, and a young woman about to discover the hollowness of the American dream. At its centre lies ‘Alligator’: a remarkable compilation of real and invented sources, which rescues from history the story of a Syrian American couple who were murdered at the hands of the state.

‘These charged, visceral stories get under the skin and stay there. This collection heralds the arrival of an electrifying new voice.’ – Irenosen Okojie

‘How does it feel to be an alien at home? . . . Sardonic, monstrous, tender, these well-crafted tales show us circumstances that might be our own, and let us see them through the eyes of others.’ ― Sunday Times

Dima Alzayat was born in Damascus, Syria, grew up in San Jose, California, and now lives in Manchester. She was the winner of the ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award 2019, a 2018 Northern Writers’ Award, the 2017 Bristol Short Story Prize, the 2015 Bernice Slote Award, runner-up in the 2018 Deborah Rogers Award and the 2018 Zoetrope: All-Story Competition, and was Highly Commended in the 2013 Bridport Prize. She is a PhD student and associate lecturer at Lancaster University.

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TOM BENN’S OXBLOOD ACQUIRED BY BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING

We’re delighted that Allegra Le Fanu at Bloomsbury Publishing has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) to Tom Benn's new novel OXBLOOD from Isobel Dixon.

OXBLOOD is the story of three seething generations of forgotten mothers living together in mid-1980s’ Wythenshawe, south Manchester. The family’s dead patriarchs once ruled Manchester’s underworld; now their house harbours an unregistered baby and is haunted by the ghost of a murdered man. The only surviving man in the family has returned home from prison – and in the course of a few days Nedra, Carol and Jan must all confront their family’s bitter legacy if they are to exorcise its past.

Tom Benn’s first novel, THE DOLL PRINCESS, was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Portico Prize and longlisted for the CWA’s John Creasey Dagger. Benn’s creative nonfiction has appeared in the Paris Review and 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. Originally from Stockport, he teaches on the UEA Crime Fiction Creative Writing MA and lives in Norwich.

Allegra Le Fanu said: ‘I can't wait for the world to meet Nedra, Carol and Jan, the three generations of women who blaze on the pages of Tom Benn's extraordinary OXBLOOD. My heart was captured by this daring, exhilarating, miraculous book from the very first page.'

Tom Benn said: ‘OXBLOOD was seven years in the writing, and so it's good to know that a Manchester novel about horny ghosts and forgotten Wythenshawe nanas can find a home. I’m overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of Allegra and the Bloomsbury team: so welcoming of working-class stories. And I’m indebted to my agent, Isobel Dixon, for her absolute belief in the book.’

Isobel Dixon said: ‘OXBLOOD is a novel of such rare, arresting immediacy and haunting power – I’m so delighted that Allegra Le Fanu heard the fierce and tender voices of these women, and of the world they inhabit, and that Tom Benn has found such an excellent home and editor at Bloomsbury.’

Publication is planned for April 2022, backed by a major marketing and publicity campaign.

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.

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SHEILA O’FLANAGAN’S THE WOMEN WHO RAN AWAY ACHIEVES DOUBLE TOP TEN SUCCESS

In its first full week of sale Sheila O’Flanagan’s latest paperback THE WOMEN WHO RAN AWAY (Headline, UK and Audio) has made it to Number Five in the Irish Times Bestseller list this weekend, and Number Seven in the Sunday Times paperback charts in the UK. Last year, the hardback of THE WOMEN WHO RAN AWAY topped the Irish Times Bestseller list, jumping straight to Number One, also in its first week of sale.

THE WOMEN WHO RAN AWAY follows two women on a life-changing European trip. Deira isn't the kind of woman to steal a car. Or drive to France alone with no plan. But then, Deira didn't expect to be single. Or to suddenly realise that the only way she can get the one thing she wants most is to start breaking every rule she lives by.

Grace has been sent on a journey by her late husband, Ken. She doesn't really want to be on it but she's following his instructions, as always. She can only hope that the trip will help her to forgive him. And then – finally – she'll be able to let him go.

Brought together by unexpected circumstances, Grace and Deira find that it's easier to share secrets with a stranger, especially in the shimmering sunny countryside of Spain and France. But they soon find that there's no escaping the truth, whether you're running away from it or racing towards it.

Sheila O’Flanagan’s brand new novel, THREE WEDDINGS AND A PROPOSAL, will be published by Headline in May 2021.

Head to Sheila’s Facebook page to watch the wonderful Facebook Lives she’s been hosting.

Sheila O’Flanagan is an international bestselling novelist, with more than 9 million copies sold. Numerous novels have been immediate and long-lasting No 1s in Ireland and, UK Top 10 Sunday Times Bestsellers, and she is published in more than 20 languages around the world. Her books have been Number 1 bestsellers in Sweden. She is the recipient of the prestigious Irish Tatler Literary Woman of the Year Award.

Praise for THE WOMEN WHO RAN AWAY

‘Life-affirming goodness from O’Flanagan.’ — Irish Examiner

‘If you’re looking for complete escapism, this riveting book with captivating characters and an evocative storyline is perfect.’ — August Books 2020, Candis

‘Love Sheila's writing.’ — Rosin Meany, Irish Independent

‘Sheila was a star at our Rooftop Book Club event, fans will love her fabulous new book.’ — Nina Pottell, Prima

Praise for Sheila O’Flanagan

‘'O'Flanagan doesn't skirt the pain of heartache but embraces it along with the humour (and imperfect judgment) that give her characters their aching credibility... Despite some dark themes, the book's overall tone is light and hopeful.' - Irish Independent on HER HUSBAND’S MISTAKE

‘O'Flanagan is one of our best-known, best-loved and most prolific women's fiction authors’ – Irish Independent

‘One of my favourite authors’ – Marian Keyes

‘O'Flanagan's writing is crisp and concise and her plotting deft’ – Belfast Telegraph

'One of our best storytellers' – Irish Mail on Sunday

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THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH by Monique Roffey Longlist for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature

We are thrilled that THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH by Monique Roffey has been longlisted for the 2021 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature. According to the judges, THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is ‘a unique Caribbean fable that takes the familiar story of a mermaid abruptly thrust onshore and brings it to a new place,’ and ‘reads like the work of a novelist in command of her material and focused on using a mythic “then” to speak to now.’ Also included in the fiction category are These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card and Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud.

The OCM Bocas Prize recognises authors of Caribbean birth or citizenship in three categories: poetry, fiction and literary non-fiction. The $10,000 Prize is considered the leading literary award for Caribbean writers. Past winners include Richard Georges, Kevin Adonis Browne, Jennifer Rahim, Kei Miller and Olive Senior. Monique Roffey’s earlier work ARCHIPELAGO was awarded the Prize in 2013.

The winners in the three genre categories will be announced on 28th March, and the overall winner will be announced on Saturday 24th April, during the annual NGC Bocas Lit Fest.

THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH was published to wide acclaim by Peepal Tree Press in the UK and by W F Howes in audio. It was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and was named Costa Book of the Year 2020. It is on the shortlist for the Rathbones Folio Prize 2021, and Peepal Tree Press and THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH have also been longlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses 2021. Translation rights have been sold in Germany, Holland, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Hungary, Turkey and Russia, with offering in other markets and for film under way. 

A vivid, moving story of love and trust, family and friendship in a Caribbean island community, THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is a world brought to unforgettable life by a master storyteller. A fisherman sings to himself in his boat, but attracts an unexpected sea-dweller — Aycayia, a beautiful young woman cursed to live as a mermaid, swimming the ocean for centuries. Theirs becomes a calm, unspoken bond. But when she hears David’s engine again one day and follows the vessel, she finds herself in a fierce battle for her life. Caught by American sports fishermen, she is strung up on the dock as a trophy, but David rescues her, and gently wins her trust as she starts to transform, painfully, back into a woman. But jealous eyes are watching them…

Interwoven with David and Aycayia’s love story is that of Miss Arcadia Rain, a white landowner bringing up her deaf son on a dwindling estate. As her young son connects with fellow outsider Aycayia, an old lover of Arcadia’s returns to the island and she too begins to feel her way into love and trust again.

See more about THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH on the Peepal Tree Press site  and read an interview with Monique Roffey here.

Praise for THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH

‘Monique Roffey is a unique talent and most daring and versatile of writers.’ — Bernardine Evaristo

‘THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH arrives bearing tragedy and beauty. Monique Roffey has created a new myth for an age of ruined oceans. She continues to be one of our most exciting new Caribbean voices.’ — A.L. Kennedy

‘Monique Roffey is a writer of verve, vibrancy and compassion, and her work is always a joy to read.’ — Sarah Hall

THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is wonderfully written, with both soul and intense drama – it glistens almost, like the mermaid! I love its all-round charisma and also its great compassion for both humanity and the natural world.’ — Diana Evans

‘THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH is like a lost myth, found, and made fresh again for our times.’ —  Tessa McWatt, author of Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging

Photo: Marcus Bastel

About Monique Roffey

Monique Roffey is an award-winning novelist. House of Ashes (Scribner UK) was shortlisted for the Costa and the BOCAS Prize. Archipelago, winner of the OCM BOCAS prize for Caribbean Literature, was published by Scribner in the UK, Viking in the US, and translated into 5 languages. Her second novel The White Woman on the Green Bicycle was shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Encore Prize, among other accolades, and film/TV rights have been optioned.

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ANTIEMETIC FOR HOMESICKNESS by Romalyn Ante longlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2021

We are thrilled that Romalyn Ante’s poetry collection ANTIEMETIC FOR HOMESICKNESS has been longlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2021.

First awarded in 2017, the Jhalak Prize exists to celebrate writers of colour and accepts entries from British or British-resident writers of colour in any genre. Past winners are Jacob Ross, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Guy Gunaratne and Johny Pitts.

The shortlist will be announced 13th April and the winner will be revealed on 25th May. 

ANTIEMETIC FOR HOMESICKNESS was published by Chatto & Windus in 2020, and was recently also longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize 2021.

The poems in Romalyn Ante's luminous debut build a bridge between two worlds: journeying from the country 'na nagluwal sa 'yo' – that gave birth to you – to a new life in the United Kingdom.

Steeped in the richness of Filipino folklore, and studded with Tagalog, these poems speak of the ache of assimilation and the complexities of belonging, telling the stories of generations of migrants who find exile through employment – through the voices of the mothers who leave and the children who are left behind.

With dazzling formal dexterity and emotional resonance, this expansive debut offers a unique perspective on family, colonialism, homeland and heritage: from the countries we carry with us, to the places we call home.

‘Captivating . . . playful . . . moving, witty and agile . . . These poems have a tended quality, as though Ante's kindness as a nurse extended to them. She is an unforced poet with a lightness of touch and fortitude, not neglecting to see her situation within a wider cultural and historical context’ – Observer Poetry Book of the Month

‘Ante's poems are like embers, pared back to a slow-burning emotional core whose intensity she sustains elegantly throughout the collection’ – Times Literary Supplement

Romalyn Ante grew up in the Philippines until she migrated to the UK when she was 16 years old. She is a West Midland-based poet and co-founding editor of harana poetry. She is also a poetry editor at Ambit magazine. Her debut pamphlet, Rice & Rain (V Press), received the 2018 Saboteur Award for Best Poetry Pamphlet. Apart from being a writer, she also works full-time as a specialist nurse practitioner. She is working on a memoir.

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