We are thrilled that Monique’s Roffey’s THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH has been longlisted for the 2021 RSL Ondaatje Prize. Also longlisted are: James Boyce, Michael Crawley, Catherine Fletcher, Michelle Gallen, Ruth Gilligan, Louise Hare, Adam Mars-Jones, Catherine O’Donoghue, Nina Mingya Powles, James Rebanks, Gareth E. Rees and Francesca Wade.
THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH was published to wide acclaim by Peepal Tree Press in the UK in April 2020. It was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize and the Folio Prize and won both the Costa Novel Award and the Costa Book of the Year Award 2020. It has also been shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses and longlisted for the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature and the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. Translation rights have been sold in Germany, Holland, Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Hungary, Turkey and Russia, with offering in other markets under way and a film deal being concluded.
The RSL Ondaatje Prize, with a value of £10,000, is awarded to the author of a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry which evokes the spirit of a place. It is awarded by The Royal Society of Literature, which aims to honour and support emerging and established writers while creating a bridge between authors and audiences to engage as many people as possible with the breadth of UK literature. The shortlist of the 2021 Ondaatje Prize will be announced on 27th April and the winner will be announced on 11th May. Past winners include Roger Robinson with A Portable Paradise, Aida Edemariam with The Wife’s Tale: A Personal History, Pascale Petite with Mama Amazonica and Francis Spufford with Golden Hill.
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
