Category Archives: Fiction

John Barth, American postmodernist novelist, dies aged 93

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The author of Giles Goat-Boy and The Sot-Weed Factor was part of a wave of writers in the 1960s who challenged standards of language and plot

John Barth, the playfully erudite author whose darkly comic and complicated novels revolved around the art of literature and launched countless debates over the art of fiction, has died aged 93.

Johns Hopkins University, where Barth was an emeritus professor of English and creative writing, confirmed he died on Tuesday. No cause of death was given.

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African writer ruined by row with Graham Greene finally gets chance to shine

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Fifty years after being accused of plagiarism, book is reissued in a bid to rehabilitate gifted Malian author Yambo Ouologuem

In 1968 the books pages of the French newspaper Le Monde excitedly praised an uncompromising new novel, Bound to Violence, going on to salute its author as one of “the rare intellectuals of international stature presented to the world by Black Africa”.

The newspaper’s words, written in tribute to the young Malian writer Yambo Ouologuem, sound condescending today. Back then, however, the intended compliment was genuine and many European critics soon agreed: the publication of Ouologuem’s strange novel really did mark the arrival of a major new talent.

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AS Byatt, author and critic, dies aged 87

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The acclaimed author of novels including Possession and The Children’s Book, has died, her publisher has confirmed

The writer and critic AS Byatt, who explored family, myth and narrative in a career spanning six decades, has died aged 87. Her publisher Chatto & Windus confirmed that she died peacefully at home surrounded by close family.

Dame Antonia Susan Duffy, who wrote under the name AS Byatt, authored complex and critically acclaimed novels, including the Booker prize-winning Possession and her examination of artistic creation, The Children’s Book. Over her career, she won a swathe of literary awards, from the Booker to a Chevalier of France’s Order of Arts and Letters.

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Benjamin Myers wins 2023 Goldsmiths prize for ‘vital’ novel Cuddy

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Award for mould-breaking fiction goes to multi-genre work – ‘part poetry, part electricity’ – retelling the story of Durham Cathedral

Benjamin Myers has won the 2023 Goldsmiths prize for Cuddy, a novel that combines poetry, prose, play, diary and real historical accounts in retelling the story of the eponymous Anglo-Saxon saint Cuthbert and his connection to Durham Cathedral.

Cuddy “is a book of remarkable range, virtuosity and creative daring”, said judging chair Tom Lee, lecturer in creative writing at Goldsmiths. “A millennia-spanning epic told in a multitude of perfectly realised voices, this visionary story of St Cuthbert and the cathedral built in his honour echoes through the ages.”

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Researcher uncovers a new body of work believed to be by Louisa May Alcott

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Academic suggests seven short stories, five poems and one non-fiction work were written by the Little Women author under the name EH Gould

A researcher has uncovered a trove of stories and poems he believes to have been written under a pseudonym by Little Women author Louisa May Alcott.

In late 2021, American academic Max Chapnick read about a story, The Phantom, while working on his PhD. The story is known to be Alcott’s – it features in the lists the writer made of her works – but had not yet been found.

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Jean-Baptiste Andrea wins Prix Goncourt for novel set in fascist Italy

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Award is usually seen as elitist but former screenwriter’s Veiller sur elle has strong sales and is a ‘popular’ read

Jean-Baptiste Andrea has won France’s most prestigious literary award, the Prix Goncourt, for a bestselling saga of the tumultuous life of a sculptor set against the backdrop of the rise of fascism in Italy.

Andrea, who turned to novel-writing after a long career as a screenwriter, has described Veiller sur elle as an expansive story of love, friendship and revenge. The novel stood out for a literary prize that has often been seen as elitist, as it already had strong sales and had been defined by some critics as a “popular” read.

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Mario Vargas Llosa says latest novel will be his last

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Nobel prize-winning Peruvian author still plans to write an essay on Sartre that ‘will be the last thing I write’

Peru’s best-known living writer, the Nobel prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa, has announced that his seven-decade literary career is coming to an end and that his latest novel will be his last.

In a postscript to the new book, Le dedico mi silencio (I Give You My Silence), the 87-year-old novelist writes: “I think I’ve finished this book. I’d now like to write an essay on [Jean-Paul] Sartre, who was my teacher as a young man. It will be the last thing I write.”

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Tian Yi wins 4thWrite prize for ‘fantastically original’ The Good Son

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Award for short story about a young man reflecting on a small-town childhood includes publication on the Guardian website

Tian Yi has won the 2023 4thWrite prize for The Good Son, a short story about a young man reflecting on a small-town childhood interrupted by strange occurrences, and a friendship he never fully understood.

The competition, run by the Guardian and publisher 4th Estate and now in its seventh year, is open to unpublished writers of colour living in the UK or Ireland. Yi has won £1,000, a one-day publishing workshop at 4th Estate, and the publication of her story on the Guardian’s website.

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Alice Winn wins 2023 Waterstones debut fiction prize for In Memoriam

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Novel described as ‘truly stunning feat of fiction’ tells love story of two first world war soldiers

Alice Winn has won the 2023 Waterstones debut fiction prize for her novel In Memoriam, which has been described as a “truly stunning feat of fiction”.

The novel, inspired by archive clippings from a student newspaper, chronicles the love story between two first world war soldiers. It was announced as the winner at a ceremony in London on Thursday evening.

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Stephen King says he may continue the Talisman series

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The book would continue the two he wrote with the late Peter Straub, while new stories are due next year

Stephen King has suggested that he may write a third instalment of the two-book Talisman series, which he co-wrote with the late Peter Straub. Asked on a podcast if his days of writing “epics” were in the past, King replied “never say never”. “Before he died, Peter sent me this long letter and said we oughta do the third one, and he gave me a really cool idea and I had some ideas of my own,” he said.

Speaking as a guest on an episode of the Talking Scared podcast, King added that the volume – which would follow The Talisman and its sequel, Black House – “would be a long book”.

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Booker prize reveals ‘original and thrilling’ 2023 longlist

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Previously nominated authors Sebastian Barry, Tan Twan Eng and Paul Murray join 13-strong field including four debuts
• Irish writers, debuts – and groundbreaking sci-fi: the Booker longlist in depth

A longlist of 13 “original and thrilling” books offering “startling portraits of the current” are in contention for the 2023 Booker prize, the UK’s most prestigious literary award.

The longlist features four debut novelists and six others who have been longlisted for the first time, alongside Sebastian Barry, Tan Twan Eng and Paul Murray, who have seven previous Booker nominations between them.

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French film-maker’s family fight to keep link to chateau that inspired his stories

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Marcel Pagnol based his famous movies on a Provencal manor he’d known as a child. Now his legacy is at risk, says his grandson

In 1941 the French novelist, playwright and film-maker Marcel Pagnol bought a chateau in a Provençal valley outside Marseille on the advice of his solicitor without even seeing it.

He proposed to transform the property into a “cinema city”, a French Hollywood set in the hills and lavender fields of southern France where he had holidayed as a child.

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‘Translation is an art’: why translators are battling for recognition

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Like any author, translators want to receive credit for their work instead of being treated as an afterthought

They have often been overlooked in the artistic and literary process, but translators have long claimed they have the power to change everything.

There are tales of myths being born, societies being forged and cities destroyed with just a slip of the pen, such as the supposed translation error that allegedly led to the US deciding to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, or the speculation about life on Mars after the mistranslation of an Italian astronomer.

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Call for new writers of colour as entries open for the 4thWrite short story prize

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The winner will receive £1,000, and have their story featured on the Guardian website

A short story competition run by the Guardian and publisher 4th Estate is open for entries from unpublished writers of colour living in the UK.

The winner of the 4thWrite prize will receive £1,000, a one-day publishing workshop with 4th Estate and publication of their story on the Guardian website.

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Author Ama Ata Aidoo, ‘an inspiration to feminists everywhere’, dies aged 81

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The Ghanaian playwright and novelist, who also served as her country’s education minister, focused on the modern African woman

The Ghanaian writer and academic Ama Ata Aidoo, whose work focused on the modern African woman, has died aged 81.

Ata Aidoo, whose fans included Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, rejected the idea of what she described as a “western perception that the African female is a downtrodden wretch”, said the BBC.

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James M Cain: lost story by ‘poet of the tabloid murder’ discovered in Congress library

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Strand Magazine will publish Blackmail, a tale of a blind Korean war veteran, found by New York editor Andrew Gulli

A New York editor and literary detective is celebrating the discovery and release of an unpublished short story by James M Cain, one of the greats of American noir, a “poet of the tabloid murder” whose works made famous on film include The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce.

“For all the work that you do,” said Andrew Gulli, editor-in-chief of the Strand Magazine, “like 2% of the time you hit the jackpot. I just feel so good. It’s worth it.”

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Martin Amis, era-defining British novelist, dies aged 73

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The celebrated author of Money and London Fields, whose works defined the 80s literary scene, died of oesophageal cancer on Friday at his home in Florida

Martin Amis, the influential author of era-defining novels including Money and London Fields, and the memoir Experience, has died at the age of 73 at his home at Lake Worth in Florida . His wife Isabel Fonseca said that the cause was cancer of the oesophagus.

Amis was among the celebrated group of novelists including Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan and Julian Barnes, whose works defined the British literary scene in the 1980s.

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New project seeks to bring south Asian literature to western readers

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Founded by two translators – one American, one British – the Salt initiative will provide mentorships, funding and a south Asia-focused literary translation school

A new project to help bring the “extraordinarily rich” literature of south Asia to English-speaking countries will launch this summer, it has been announced.

The cross-continental South Asian Literature in Translation (Salt) project has been set up by the University of Chicago, in partnership with the American Literary Translators Association, English PEN, Words Without Borders and the British Council. The multi-year project will try to “strengthen each part of the publishing chain across the English-speaking world”, the University of Chicago has said.

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James Patterson to complete unfinished Michael Crichton book

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Late author’s estate has shared a manuscript with the bestselling novelist centered on a volcanic eruption in Hawaii

The bestselling author James Patterson is set to complete an unfinished manuscript from the late Michael Crichton.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Crichton’s estate has provided him with over 100 pages of a novel about the imminent eruption of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano, which threatens a secret cache of deadly chemical weapons. Just last month, the volcano did start erupting.

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‘It’s a therapeutic genre for me’: Iceland’s PM releases debut crime novel

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Katrín Jakobsdóttir joins long list of fiction-writing politicians with book that came together during Covid pandemic

For 30 years, the disappearance of teenager Lára Marteinsdóttir from the windswept island of Víðey, off the coast of Iceland’s capital, tormented the nation. Until 1986, when Valur, a rookie reporter on a local newspaper, decided to investigate …

So far, so Nordic noir. But Reykjavík, published to promising reviews in Iceland this week, is a crime novel with a difference – it was written by the prime minister, albeit with the help of one of the country’s international bestselling authors.

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