The Prize for New Fiction
Psychological thrillers, philosophical journeys and coming-of-age stories are amongst the ten debut novels longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize today, Tuesday 24 April 2012. With many of the books focusing on politics and social realism, this longlist reflects a trend in debut fiction of bringing contemporary resonance to some traditional heavyweight themes.
The longlist for The Desmond Elliott Prize 2012 :
- Absolution by Patrick Flanery
- Bed by David Whitehouse
- Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson
- The Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood
- Care Of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles
- The Land Of Decoration by Grace McCleen
- The Last Hundred Days by Patrick McGuinness
- The Missing Shade of Blue by Jennie Erdal
- The Spider King’s Daughter by Chibundu Onuzo
- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the £10,000 award for a first novel published in the UK, set up in memory of the celebrated publisher and literary agent Desmond Elliott to ‘enrich the careers of new writers’. The criteria of the Prize require longlisted novels to display confident and compelling narratives and feature original and arresting characters. This year’s longlist undoubtedly delivers, with a host of memorable protagonists from Mal of David Whitehouse’s tragi-comedy Bedto Judith McPherson, the child protagonist of Grace McCleen’s The Land of Decoration.
Two discernible themes emerge from the 2012 longlist: politically-oriented fiction and campus novels. Three novels are set in political landscapes: Patrick Flanery’s Absolution moves between past and present South Africa under the shadow of Apartheid; Patrick McGuinness’ The Last Hundred Days is set in Bucharest in the dying days of communism, whilst Chibundu Onuzo’s The Spider King’s Daughter crosses the divide between rich and poor in Lagos. Closer to home, two of the books explore the world of British academia during the 1980s: Benjamin Wood’s The Bellwether Revivals plays out in the university city of Cambridge, whilst Jennie Erdal’s The Missing Shade of Blue explores the relationship between two donnish misanthropes in Edinburgh.
Also notable are the professions of this year’s longlisted writers. Rachel Joyce is an award-winning playwright and actress. The list includes two academics: Benjamin Wood, currently a lecturer in Creative Writing at Birkbeck, University of London, and Patrick McGuinness, Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Oxford University and a prize-winning poet. Another previously published author is Jennie Erdal, whose 2004 memoir Ghosting exposed her long-serving career as ghostwriter for publisher Naim Attallah. Like the protagonist in The Missing Shade of Blue, Erdal has also worked as a translator. Will Wiles’ career as an architecture and design journalist will no doubt have influenced his novel about a minimalist Eastern European apartment.
Participation in the Faber Academy led to a change of career for former NHS audiologist S.J. Watson, whose debut has already been sold in over 30 languages and has been acquired for film by Ridley Scott’s production company. The youngest of this year’s longlisted authors is Chibundu Onuzo, who was 18 when she wrote The Spider King’s Daughter and is the youngest woman to be offered a two-book deal with Faber and Faber.
This year’s panel of judges is chaired by one of Desmond Elliott’s own protégés, the critically acclaimed author Sam Llewellyn. He is joined by Tom Gatti, Deputy Editor of The Times Review section and Caroline Mileham, Head of Books at Play.com.
A shortlist of three books will be announced in May, followed by a winner announcement on Thursday 28 June at Fortnum & Mason, London.
The 2011 winner was Anjali Joseph for Saraswati Park, published by Fourth Estate. Other winners of the Prize were: The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw (2010); Blackmoor by Edward Hogan (2009) and Giftedby Nikita Lalwani (2008).