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Adam Marek makes Sunday Times EFG Shortlist
Congratulations to Comma author Adam Marek who has reached the shortlist of the inaugural Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Prize, alongside seasoned Kiwi C K Stead, Zimbabwean Petina Gappah, American David Vann, 26-year old novelist Joe Dunthorne, and former journalist Will Cohu. Adam's story 'Fewer Things' was one of 1200 entries and beat longlisted stories from the likes of Rose Tremain and Helen Simpson to make the shortlist. The prize of £25,000 is the largest cash prize for a single story in English. More about the shortlist
here; more about the longlist here; more about Adam Marek here.
Forthcoming:
Planet Box
Laura Daly & Diana Syder
A unique collaboration between a visual artist and a poet.
‘Here is an English poet who is amazed by the world and wants to tell you how amazed she is.’ - Jim Burns. >>More.
Just Out:
When It Changed
'Science Into Fiction'
Ed. by Geoff Ryman
A literary 'experiment' in the scientific sense.
Featuring Sara Maitland's 'Moss Witch' - Runner Up in the BBC National Short Story Prize 2009. 'Highly engaging and fascinating... this thought-provoking collection reminded me why I used to like science fiction so much...'
– The Guardian, 20 Dec 09. 'All hit, no miss... stunning... The book shows that science can inspire anyone and everyone.'
– New Scientist, 5 Dec 09. 'A diamond of compression.'
– Financial Times, 20 Dec 09. >>More.
The Madman of Freedom Square
by Hassan Blasim
Translated from the Arabic by Jonathan Wright.
The first major literary work about the Iraq War from an Iraqi perspective. 'The news machine has shifted its attention to Afghanistan, and Iraqis are being left to fend for themselves. Blasim's collection reminds us that anything could still happen there. Iraq's story must still be told, and we need Iraqi voices like Blasim's to tell it.'
– Intelligent Life, Nov 09. 'Blasim pitches everyday horror into something almost gothic... his taste for the surreal can be Gogol-like.' The Independent, 6 Oct 09. 'Blasim moves adeptly between surreal, internalised states of mind and ironic commentary on Islamic extremism and the American invasion... excellent.'
– The Metro, 22 Oct 09. >>More
The Shieling
by David Constantine
The much anticipated follow-up to Constantine's highly acclaimed Under The Dam. 'If it's possible to be a romantic existentialist, David Constantine is... But beware: this understanding, and Constantine's way with it, can leave some other kinds of contemporary fiction feeling brittle and empty.'
– The Guardian, 7 Nov 09. 'The Shieling is so good I'll be surprised if there's a better collection this year...'
– The Independent, 2 Sep 09. 'Constantine uses words beautifully, balancing language and image with the sensitivity of a poet...'
– The Metro, 8 Oct 09. ‘Perhaps the finest of contemporary writers in this form’ – The Reader >>More.
Recent Releases:
The New Uncanny
Ed. by Sarah Eyre & Ra Page
Featuring:
A.S. Byatt, Christopher Priest, Ramsey Campbell, Etgar Keret, Hanif Kureishi, Sara Maitland, Alison Macleod, Jane Rogers, Gerard Woodward, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Nicholas Royle, Ian Duhig, Matthew Holness, and Adam Marek. 'A masterclass in understated creepiness... a deliciously macabre collection that the old Austrian might well have enjoyed.'
- Book of the Week, Time Out, 12 Jan. >>More
Instruction Manual for Swallowing
by Adam Marek
'There's a transgressive thrill to Adam Marek's debut collection of short stories that's not simply a result of the potency of the subject matter... delightful.'
- The Guardian.
'Genuine, unsettling talent'
- The Independent. >>More
The Silence Room
by Sean O'Brien 'Hugely entertaining... superbly chilling.'
- The Guardian, 1 Aug. 'The collection is as satisfying as it is stimulating... deeply unsettlingly... darkly thrilling.'
- The Independent, 9 Jan. >>More
Ed. by Sarah Eyre & Ra Page
by Adam Marek
by Sean O'Brien
