The IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is well known for its independent spirit and for the fact that it is one of the richest (€100,000) English language book awards. A closer look at this year’s shortlist confirms that the tradition of IMPAC to give the award to first time novelist or authors whose work is controversial will be upheld. This year’s shortlist features two first time authors: Vietnam war veteran Karl Marlantes for his book Matterhorn and Australian author JonBauer’s for his Rocks in the Belly. There are also two books that came to English market via translators: Lismol by Israeli …
Historical fiction is one of these genres that seems to be very easy and yet very difficult to pin down. We all accept that it is a mix of some fact and some fiction but there is really no definition on how far writers can go in their speculation. Some readers fear historical novels thinking of them as dated, irrelevant or reminding them of never ending boring stories of their less favorite relatives. However, avid fans of this genre will tell you that there are plenty of writers who are able to create great historical books that immerse us in …
Little Brown and Co announced J K Rowling will release her new book on 27th September 2012. The publisher has also revealed that this new adult novel will be entitled THE CASUAL VACANCY and against all the wild speculations her new venture in writing for adults will not fall into a genre of mystery. The brief description of the plot indicates that it will be “blackly comic” tale of rivalry and duplicity in a small English town. Read more here. The announcement has unleashed a fury of postings from Harry Potter fans around the world, eager to get …
Shortlist for the 2012 CILIP Carnegie Medal announced. It can be really hard to find great books for kids between age of 8 and 12. There is a lot being published for this age group but how to choose something that will capture the imagination of these young readers? This year’s shortlist for one of the most prestigious children literature awards CILIP Carnegie Medal is one of the youngest shortlists in the whole history of this prize as all the books fall into 8-12 years old age group. The shortlist provides you with plenty to choose from in terms of authors (debuts …
The Miles Franklin Literary Award announced the 2012 long list and I would not like to be in the shoes of these jurors, how do you choose just one winner from such a great line up? This is also one of the longest lists in the 58 year history of this award and it is almost equally divided between female and male authors and between historical and contemporary fiction. Many among the nominated books have already been major best sellers in Australia and five of the authors have been either nominated or they previously won the the Miles Franklin …
