Keene’s ‘Counternarratives’ wins inaugural UK small press prize

In the UK, John Keene’s Counternarratives (Fitzcarraldo Editions) has won the inaugural Republic of Consciousness Prize for small presses, reports the Bookseller.

The £3000 ($4860) prize money is split, with two-thirds going to the publisher and one-third going to the author.

Counternarratives was the unanimous choice from the judging panel, which praised how the ‘subject matter, formal inventiveness, multitude of voices, and seriousness of purpose transform a series of thematically linked stories into a complete work of art’.

Two runners-up, Mike McCormack’s Solar Bones (Tramp Press) and Martin John’s Anakana Schofield (And Other Stories), receive £1000 (A$1620) each.

The £1000 (A$1620) award for Best First Book went to Paul Stanbridge’s Forbidden Line (Galley Beggar Press).

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, novelist Neil Griffiths launched the award to recognise ‘brave, bold and brilliant’ literature from small presses, with funding coming from donations and a raffle supported by small publishers.

Category: International news