06 October 2025
Brian Patten, renowned Liverpool poet, dies aged 79
We are sad to announce the death of beloved RCW client Brian Patten, who passed away peacefully in hospital on 29th September 2025, aged 79, with his wife Linda by his side.
Born in Liverpool in 1946, Patten came to prominence as one of the Liverpool poets who published The Mersey Sound poetry anthology in 1967, alongside Adrian Henri and Roger McGough. From his early days editing and publishing the magazine underdog, which gave a platform to Liverpool’s underground poets, to living rough in Paris (paying his way by writing poems in coloured chalk on the pavements beside the city’s pavement artists), Brian became a titan of twentieth century poetry.
Amongst his many collections were Vanishing Trick and Armada, which included some of his most striking poems, focusing on the death of his mother and his memories of childhood. Penguin published his Selected Poems and Harper Perennial one of his most important books, The Collected Love Poems.
Brian was honoured with the Freedom of the City of Liverpool and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, as well as Liverpool University, John Moores University and The ...
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02 October 2025
Conker Pictures Lands Hot Eloise Rodger Novel ‘Death’s A Bitch’
Following what was called “an incredibly competitive international process,” Kim Varvell and Tommy Bulfin’s production house will adapt the Eloise Rodger's debut novel Death's A Bitch into a TV series. The plan is to take the show to both the UK and international markets.
Eloise Rodger’s upcoming debut novel, which is due to publish in 2027, has been directing chatter in worldwide circles, leading to the auction.
Billed as a “coming-of-age novel with a high concept twist,” Death’s a Bitch comes from 22-year-old London-based writer Rodger, who wrote the book in her final year at Trinity College Dublin, where she was a scholar of English literature – a post that has previously been held by the likes of Samuel Beckett. She was co editor-in-chief of Icarus, the oldest arts journal in Ireland, where she published new work from Simon Armitage and Lucy Caldwell. The book follows Aggie, whose younger sister, Marcie, has been unwell for over a year and on a never-ending waitlist. When Death offers Aggie a job that will allow Marcie to live, she readily accepts.
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27 August 2025
Julia Donaldson makes history!
Julia Donaldson has become the first writer to sell more than 50 million units through British bookshops since accurate records began!
Donaldson and her illustrators have now shifted 50.3 million copies via NielsenIQ BookScan’s Total Consumer Market.
Donaldson’s bestseller is her and illustrator Axel Scheffler’s 1999 paperback edition of The Gruffalo (Macmillan Children’s), which has sold just under 1.5 million copies. She has two other editions that have exceeded one million units (both illustrated by Scheffler and published by Macmillan Children’s): The Gruffalo’s Child and Room on the Broom. All of Donaldson’s top 10 bestsellers have been collaborations with Axel Scheffler. Various versions of the two Gruffalo titles account for nearly 20% of Donaldson’s total, a percentage that may increase in Autumn 2026 when the third title in the series is set to be launched.
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25 July 2025
Lucy Steeds wins the 2025 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize
The Artist by Lucy Steeds has won the 2025 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize.
The book is set over one sweltering summer during the 1920s, and focuses on an enigmatic painter, the young British journalist set on penning a piece on him, and the artist’s seemingly unworldly niece. As the young man sets out to write his piece on the great and terrifying painter, tensions between the three come to a dramatic conclusion.
Bea Carvalho, Waterstones head of books, said: “It is a great pleasure to announce that Waterstones booksellers have chosen Lucy Steeds as the winner of the 2025 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize for her novel The Artist. From a shortlist of six stunning books, The Artist stood out for its atmospheric, sensory prose, and its headily evocative sense of time and place. It is a stylish, elegant treat of a novel which seamlessly transports the reader to sun-soaked southern France, weaving mystery with romance, while delving into the complex nature of artistry. Lucy Steeds is a writer of rare talent: she is able to conjure vivid brushstrokes, sticky heat, and the smells and tastes of Provence, through words on the page. This is a gorgeously claustr...
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10 June 2025
Yuval Zommer wins Prix UNICEF de Littérature Jeunesse 2025
Yuval Zommer has been named as one of the winners of the Prix UNICEF de Littérature Jeunesse 2025. Zommer's book The Wild (Natura in French) was named as the winner of the the 3-5 year old category and one of 4 winning books voted for by 40,838 children.
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13 May 2025
RCW authors triumph at the British Book Awards 2025
The 35th British Book Awards saw Percival Everett being awarded The Fiction Book of the Year for James, a reimagining of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Judges called James a “future classic”, a “gripping, stunning” and “beautifully executed” story. When crowning James the winner, the panel of judges agreed that the story delivers “the message the world needs right now”. Everett was also named as Author of the Year, with “the past 12 months cementing his position as one of the great literary novelists of our time”.
Butter by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton, was awarded The Debut: Fiction prize. The judges found the story “evocative” and “wonderfully” executed.
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler were awarded the Children’s Illustrated prize for Jonty Gentoo: The Adventures of a Penguin. The panel praised the duo’s tale of a plucky penguin for its “celebration of conservation” and “effortless rhyming” narrative.
Hunted by Abir Mukherjee was awarded the Book of the Year – Crime & Thriller award.
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23 January 2025
Fernanda Torres nominated for Best Actress at 2025 Academy Awards
Fernanda Torres has landed a Best Actress nomination from the American Academy for her leading turn in Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here.
I'm Still Here is a 2024 political drama, based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva's 2015 memoir of the same name. It stars Fernanda Torres and Fernanda Montenegro as Eunice Paiva, a mother and activist coping with the forced disappearance of her husband, the dissident politician Rubens Paiva, during the military dictatorship in Brazil.
The winner will be announced at the 2025 Academy Awards on 3rd March.
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20 January 2025
The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson Adapted for the Stage
The Testament Of Gideon Mack by James Robertson has been adapted for the stage by Matthew Zajac and will begin a run of 17 dates across Scotland in February. First published in 2006, The Testament Of Gideon Mack was nominated for the Booker Prize that same year. The first performance of the adaptation is at the Eden Theatre in Inverness on February 13th.
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11 December 2024
Sebastian Barry Is Chevalier Des Arts Et Des Lettres
Sebastian Barry was named Chevalier in the French Ordre des Arts et Lettres by French Ambassador Céline Place at a ceremony in Dublin on the 10th of December 2024.
The honour reflects his tremendous contribution to Irish literature which has strongly echoed in France since the first French publication of his work in 1996.
Accepting the award, he said that he was deeply moved to receive the letter that he was to be awarded this radiant honour: 'Chevalier, heavens! Frankly I cried. Like many Irish people of many generations, I have strong feelings for France. I lived there as a passionate young writer of 22 in the belief that to be a writer it would be optimum to make a start in the city of literature. It was an instinct with deep historical roots. I was in love with the old houses and the river and the recompensing parks. The heroic tramps and the metro and the numbing winter. I was as poor as the proverbial mouse but rich because I was living in the speaking sculpture of the city. I always believe myself in my private mind to be a secret citizen, if I may be so bold as to say so, and this deeply honouring and honourable award seems quietly to frank my invisible...
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04 December 2024
Paul Murray's The Bee Sting To Be Adapted for TV
Paul Murray’s Booker Prize-shortlisted and Nero Prize-winning novel, The Bee Sting is being adapted for television by Carnival Films. Murray is set to write the screenplay for the adaptation after Carnival won the rights to the novel in a highly competitive situation earlier this year.
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28 November 2024
Clean Sweep for RCW in Waterstones Book of the Year 2024 Announcement
Waterstones have announced that two RCW books have been named Book of the Year 2024. Butter by Asako Yuzuki, translated by Polly Barton, has been chosen as 2024 Waterstones Book of the Year and I am Rebel by Ross Montgomery has been awarded 2024 Waterstones Children's Book of the Year. Exclusive hardback editions of both books are now available for purchase.
https://www.waterstones.com/category/cultural-highlights/book-awards/the-waterstones-book-of-the-year
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21 November 2024
After the Party receives 5 star Guardian review after debuting on Channel 4
After the Party, a new drama series part-written by Emily Perkins, has received a 5 star review in The Guardian after debuting on Channel 4 on the 20th of November. Lucy Mangan said of the series that 'It’s a bravura performance from the very beginning' and is 'hands down the best acting on TV all year'. The series is also nominated for a Rose d’Or 2024 award in the Drama category.
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21 November 2024
Percival Everett wins National Book Award for James
Percival Everett has won the 2024 National Book Award for fiction for James, his Booker shortlisted re-imagining of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Percival was awarded the $10,000 prize at a ceremony in New York on the evening of the 20th of November.
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13 November 2024
James Crawford to host new BBC Radio 4 show: Take Four Books
BBC Radio 4 launches new book strand Take Four Books with RCW author and broadcaster James Crawford. Produced in Scotland, the programme will interview authors about their new work and three other books that have influenced them and their writing
James Crawford says: “I’m thrilled to be presenting Take Four Books for Radio 4. In many ways this is a dream gig: being able to delve into the creative process with a host of wonderful authors, uncovering fascinating or unexpected influences, and examining the unique power of writing - from the epic sweep of an entire book all the way down to the great weight or significance of a single sentence. I hope it will really bring literature and writing alive for listeners.”
Mohit Bakaya, Director of Speech and Controller Radio 4 says: “Coverage of literature has always been an integral part of the Radio 4 schedule and I’m delighted to launch this new series for book lovers everywhere. James will bring listeners in depth conversations with new and...
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28 October 2024
Paul Bailey, beloved RCW author, dies aged 87
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Paul Bailey, who died on the 27th October, 2024, at the age of 87. Paul was twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize and received many prizes and awards over the course of his career, including the George Orwell Prize and the inaugural E.M. Forster Award. His novels were published by Jonathan Cape, Fourth Estate and Bloomsbury and his poetry by CB Editions. Paul was one of RCW's longest-standing and most beloved authors. We shall all miss him greatly.
'I write because I have to and want to. It's as simple, or as complicated, as that. And I write novels specifically because I am curious about my fellow creatures. There is no end to their mystery. I share Isaac Babel's lifelong ambition to write with simplicity, brevity and precision. It was he who said 'No steel can pierce the human heart so chillingly as a period at the right moment.' I hope one or two of my full stops have done, and will do, just that.'
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10 October 2024
Han Kang wins the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to the South Korean author Han Kang “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”
Han Kang’s work is characterised by a double exposure of pain, a correspondence between mental and physical torment with close connections to Eastern thinking.
In her oeuvre, Han Kang confronts historical traumas and invisible sets of rules and, in each of her works, exposes the fragility of human life. She has a unique awareness of the connections between body and soul, the living and the dead, and in her poetic and experimental style has become an innovator in contemporary prose.
She follows fellow RCW clients Kazuo Ishiguro, Olga Tokarczuk, and Abdulrazak Gurnah who were the recipients of the 2017, 2018 and 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature respectively.
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18 September 2024
'Jonty Gentoo' by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is No.1 Children's Bestseller
Jonty Gentoo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is the No.1 Children's Bestseller!
Jonty the little gentoo penguin longs to find his true home at the South Pole.
One night, he sneaks out of the zoo and sets off on an amazing adventure, all the way to Antarctica (with an accidental detour to the North Pole!)
Children will be cheering Jonty on as he finally finds his way, in this captivating story of bravery, friendship, and finding your place in the world.
“Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler are the Lennon and McCartney… of children’s publishing” The Times
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