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Glover longlisted for Walter Scott Prize 2018

Friday, 2 March 2018   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

Australian writer Dennis Glover has been longlisted for the 2018 Walter Scott Prize for The Last Man in Europe (Black Inc.).

Glover’s novel about the writing of George Orwell’s classic, 1984, is one of 13 books longlisted for the £25,000 (A$44,369) prize.

Black Inc. publisher Chris Feik says the book is ‘dramatic and moving, and a remarkable work of historical imagination’. ‘We are proud that it has been recognised by the Walter Scott Prize in this way. As historical fiction, it’s something special.’

The other 12 longlisted titles are:

  • The Clocks in This House All Tell Different Times (Xan Brooks, Salt)
  • Birdcage Walk (Helen Dunmore, Hutchinson)
  • Manhattan Beach (Jennifer Egan, Corsair)
  • Sugar Money (Jane Harris, Faber)
  • Prussian Blue (Philip Kerr, Quercus)
  • The Draughtsman (Robert Lautner, Borough Press)
  • Grace (Paul Lynch, Oneworld)
  • The Wardrobe Mistress (Patrick McGrath, Hutchinson)
  • Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves (Rachel Malik, Penguin)
  • The Gallows Pole (Benjamin Myers, Bluemoose Books)
  • The Horseman (Tim Pears, Bloomsbury)
  • The Bedlam Stacks (Natasha Pulley, Bloomsbury).

A shortlist will be released in April, with the winner to be announced at the Baillie Gifford Borders Book Festival in the UK, which runs from 14 to 17 June. The winner will receive £25,000 and each of the shortlisted authors, £1000 (A$1775).

The judges said the prize saw a record number of entries this year, as ‘historical fiction continues to ride a wave of publishing success’. ‘As a result, we have been able to make our selection from a body of remarkable and varied novels. In our longlist, we have attempted to represent different styles—from lyrical to experimental, and from epic to intimate,’ they said.

The prize will also release an additional list of books recommended by the Walter Scott Prize Academy in April. The Academy was established in December 2016 ‘to broaden the global reach and strengthen the resources of the prize’, and this year includes Tablo creative director Jemma Birrell and Melbourne Festival artistic director Jonathan Holloway.

Glover’s novel was distributed in the UK by Ingram Publisher Services, who signed a deal in 2017 with Black Inc. to distribute a select range of the publisher’s titles into the UK and North America.

 

Category: Local news