Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín is one of eight titles on the newly-announced shortlist for the Folio Prize 2015.
Sponsored by The Folio Society, celebrated publisher of beautiful editions of the world’s greatest books, the prize recognises the best English-language fiction from around the world, regardless of form, genre or the author’s country of origin.
Rich and varied, with writers originating from North America, Britain, Ireland, Kenya and India, the shortlist comprises a wide range of international voices. Familiar prize-winning names such as Ali Smith and Tóibín are joined by critically-acclaimed newer voices like Ben Lerner and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor.
Independent publishers make a strong showing, with Faber and Granta representing three titles each, while the world’s largest English language publisher, Penguin Random House, represents the remaining two places on the list.
The shortlist
10:04 by Ben Lerner (Granta)
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews (Faber)
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill (Granta)
Dust by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor (Granta)
Family Life by Akhil Sharma (Faber)
How to Be Both by Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton)
Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín (Viking)
Outline by Rachel Cusk (Faber)
Announcing the shortlist at the British Library, William Fiennes, the chair of judges, said: “This shortlist is the result of months of reading and hours of passionate conversation. The eight books we’ve chosen explore vast themes - time, loss, belonging, war, solitude, marriage and family, the making and the mystery of art - with amazing vitality and grace.
“They manage to be both epic and intimate – in fact, they show those dimensions to be two sides of the same coin. They’ve surprised, moved, challenged and enchanted us. They’ve made us laugh. They’ve grown and deepened when we read them again.
“But it’s not just the richness and fire of the individual books. We’re excited by the range of ideas, voices and approaches represented here, and by the way our shortlist shows the novel refreshing itself, reaching out for new shapes and strategies, still discovering what it might be, what it might do.”
Internationally acclaimed writers Rachel Cooke, Mohsin Hamid, A.M Homes and Deborah Levy completed the judging panel, which selected the eight titles from a list of 80 books nominated by the Folio Prize Academy. These were the 80 works of fiction published in the UK in 2014 that, in the eyes of the 235 writers and critics who constitute the Academy, were the best of the year.
Shortlisted authors are now in the running for the £40,000 overall prize, which will be awarded at a special ceremony at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel on Monday, March 23rd. The winner announcement will mark the culmination of the Folio Prize Fiction Festival, which returns for its second year at the British Library from March 20th-22nd.
Featuring some of the world’s leading literary figures in addition to the shortlisted authors, the three-day event will open with a new initiative for 2015: The Folio Society Lecture, delivered by internationally acclaimed author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Last year’s prize was awarded to George Saunders for his short story collection, Tenth of December.
