Gladstone’s Library has revealed the 10 books shortlisted for its successful Writers in Residence programme.
Now into its fifth year, the prize was established by Gladstone’s Library in association with Damian Barr (saloniere and author of Maggie and Me) to explore and define liberal values in the twenty-first century.
The shortlist is made up of novels, poetry and creative non-fiction that, in the eyes of the shortlisters, best represent some of the most creative writing in the world today.
This year’s submissions were drawn from a pool of entries from around the world and included a copy of the writer's most recently published work and a short piece on liberal values.
The 10 shortlisted titles for 2016 are:
- Susan Barker, The Incarnations (Doubleday)
- Sue Hubbard, The Forgetting and Remembering of Air (Salt)
- Rose Collis, Death in the City (Hanover Press)
- Rebecca Farmer, Not Really (smith/doorstop)
- Alyson Hallett, Suddenly Everything (Poetry Salzburg)
- Jason Hewitt, The Dynamite Room (Simon & Schuster)
- Tung-Hui Hu, Greenhouses, Lighthouses (Copper Canyon Press)
- Amy Liptrot, The Outrun (Canongate)
- Katharine Norbury, The Fish Ladder (Bloomsbury Circus)
- Natasha Pulley, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (Bloomsbury Circus)
The winning authors will be awarded up to a month’s residency at Gladstone’s Library, a creative community that is open to the public and is based in the world’s only residential library. Previous winning authors include Naomi Alderman (The Liars’ Gospel), Stella Duffy (Theodora, The Purple Shroud), Rebecca Abrams (Touching Distance) and Vanessa Gebbie (The Coward’s Tale), and previous winning poets include Katrina Naomi, (The Girl With the Cactus Handshake, Hooligans), Judy Brown (Loudness) and Pascale Petit (Fauverie).
The Warden of Gladstone’s Library, Peter Francis, commented that as in previous years, the list represents ‘a wonderful blend of established, newly published and as-yet unpublished writers. Our shortlist seems to develop organically, to include long- and short-form fiction, poetry, biography and creative non-fiction. We are delighted to be able to announce such a strong shortlist and we’re sure that those of us who are judging have their work cut out’.
This year’s judging panel consists of Strategy Director of Rufus Leonard and Trustee of Gladstone’s Library Freddie Baveystock; novelist and Director of the National Academy of Writing Richard Beard; Peter Francis, Warden of Gladstone’s Library; novelist and academic Francesca Haig; novelist Sarah Perry; Director of Collections and academic Louisa Yates. Judging takes place on Monday 10th August and the winners will be announced on 12th October.
The 2016 scheme will be launched at an exclusive salon at London’s National Liberal Club, where the four winners will read from their work, accompanied by previous Writers-in-Residence.
To register your interest for this event, please call 01244 532350 or email us.