03 August 2020

Originally broadcast on BBC Two back in 2012, Jed Mercurio's hit show Line of Duty began life with Lennie James in the lead role as DCI Tony Gates, supported by Martin Compston (DS Steve Arnott), Vicky McClure (DI Kate Fleming) and Adrian Dunbar (Superintendent Ted Hastings). Starting Monday, August 3 at 9pm, the episodes that started it all will air on Monday and Tuesday nights.

Following the announcement, showrunner Mercurio commented: "When series one was first broadcast, Line of Duty was a little police drama on BBC Two. I'm delighted the BBC are giving new viewers and existing fans a chance to watch from the very beginning."

The next chapter in Jed Mercurio’s masterly police corruption thriller started filming in February, but production was suspended after just four weeks as the coronavirus lockdown loomed. Shooting hasn’t yet been able to resume, meaning Line of Duty devotees will likely have to wait until 2021 for series six.

Photo credit: BBC

03 August 2020

Claire Adam's debut Golden Child, published in the UK by Faber & Faber, has been longlisted for the inaugural Diverse Book Awards in the adult fiction category. This adds to Adam's list of recent accolades, which also includes the UK Desmond Elliot Prize, the Authors Club Best First Novel Award, among others.

The Diverse Book Awards is a new prize ceremony that was created by the writing community The Author School to recognize inclusivity in children's, YA and adult fiction. Shortlists will be revealed at the end of September, and the winners in each category announced in October. Winners will receive a bundle of prizes including a trophy, a six-month PR and marketing membership of Literally PR’s "100 Club’", a This Is Book Love bookshop listing, editorial in Pen & Inc, the opportunity to be part of an author panel event to be hosted by The Author School, and to be part of the Margate Bookie online festival programme in November.

29 July 2020

J.G. Farrell's 1978 novel, The Singapore Grip, has been adapted for the screen by Sir Christopher Hampton. Hampton described Farrell’s book as a “novel about people who don’t know what’s about to hit them,” saying the British defeat demonstrated the “folly of self-righteousness and unjustified self-belief.” This book is part of Farrell's Empire Trilogy, which explores the consequences of colonialism, and won the 1973 Booker Prize for The Siege of Krishnapur, the second book in his trilogy.

The television drama focuses on a British family living in Singapore during World War Two, at the time of the Japanese invasion. ITV will be broadcasting the 6 part TV adaptation of The Singapore Grip this September, and starring are Jane Horrocks, Luke Treadaway, Elizabeth Tan, David Morrissey, Colm Meaney and Charles Dance, among others. 

Click here to discover more.

28 July 2020

BBC One has announced it is adapting Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love into a three-part series starring Lily James, Dominic West, Emily Beecham, Andrew Scott, Dolly Wells, Assaad Bouab, Shazad Latif, Freddie Fox and Beattie Edmondson, among others. 

Written and directed by Emily Mortimer, The Pursuit of Love is a romantic comedy-drama about love and friendship. It follows the romantic misadventures of a young woman named Linda Radlett (played by Lily James), as told from the perspective of her cousin Fanny (played by Emily Beecham). Linda spends most of her idle youth longing for her true love to come and sweep her off her feet, which leads her to embark on a series of romantic relationships later in life, marrying multiple times and even running away with a lover, leading Fanny to question how authentic love can ever be.

Three one-hour episodes are planned to premiere on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK, and be available on Amazon Prime Video in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The Pursuit of Love will be filmed primarily around the Bristol and Bath area, drawing o...

28 July 2020

Johann Hari's Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, a non-fiction book that examines the history and impact of drug criminalization during the period known as The War on Drugs, is being adapted for film by prize-winning director, writer and producer Lee Daniel and Paramount Pictures. The script is co-written by Lee Daniel and Pulitzer prize-winner Suzan-Lori Parks, but Johann Hari has also joined the production as an Executive Producer. The picture is currently in post-production, slated for a major awards season release in the upcoming season.

The film adaption is called The United States Vs. Billie Holiday and it follows Holiday (played by Andra Day) as she’s being targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics in an undercover sting operation led by federal agent Jimmy Fletcher, with whom she had a tumultuous affair. The film is inspired by Holiday’s life story, and The United States Vs. Billie Holiday examines the singer’s struggles with addiction, fame and heartbreaking love.

28 July 2020

C. Pam Zhang's How Much of These Hills Is Gold, published in the UK by Virago, is among thirteen authors longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize. The book tells the story of the arrival of Chinese-American immigrants to the US during the Gold Rush and the conflict between two siblings, carrying the body of their newly deceased father across a harsh landscape. It is about family and the search for both a home and a fortune.

Zhang is one of eight debut novelists longlisted for the Booker Prize, which is widely regarded as the UK’s foremost literary award and recognises the best novel written in English and published in the UK and Ireland. The shortlist of six books will be announced on 15th September, with the overall winner to be named in November.

28 July 2020

Peter Pomerantsev's This Is Not Propaganda, published by Faber & Faber, has been shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2020. This part memoir, part investigation, part cry for help, tours the world and delves into archives, telling the stories of the new information wars, interwoven with passages about his parents’ lives. 

Now in its eighth year, the literary prize celebrates both fiction and non-fiction, rewarding works that stand out in the scale of their endeavour, often challenging readers’ expectations or pushing perceived boundaries of genre, sensibility or even the role of literature itself. It seeks to celebrate those who follow in the footsteps of the groundbreaking author Gordon Burn, and the winner of the £5,000 prize will be announced on 15th October at the Durham Book Festival. 

Discover more here. 

10 July 2020

Kate Clanchy's Some Kids I Taught and What They Taught Me, published by Picador, has won for the 2020 Orwell Prize for Political Writing. The book details a teacher's life spent in the state education system, and was described by the judging panel as "moving, funny and full of life", offering "sparkling insights into modern British society."

Clanchy, in her acceptance speech, said that “schoolteachers are not taken seriously in so many different ways: not by politicians, not as intellectuals, and not as artists. So for this to win the prize for ‘political writing as art’ means so much to me, and I hope it will mean something for other teachers, because if there’s one thing the pandemic has taught us, it’s that teachers are very important and very necessary, and that schools are communities, and without them we rip big holes in our societies. This is the prize, of all prizes, I would have wanted.”

Click here to discover more.

09 July 2020

RCW and Knights Of have announced a series of free workshops for aspiring children’s authors of colour.

Spearheaded by Claire Wilson, Director at RCW, and Eishar Brar, Editorial Director at Knights Of, the workshops will provide transparency and clarity into the publishing process from beginning to end. They will be joined by authors, including Tanya Byrne, Aisha Bushby, Mary Watson, Elle McNicoll and Sharna Jackson, editors, and agents from across children’s publishing, for panels covering a range of topics: including the submissions process, the role of marketing & publicity, and building an author profile.

A summary of the workshops and a series of resources will be made available online after the event.

After five virtual workshops across two weekends in August 2020, the authors will receive one-to-one feedback sessions with an editor or agent to discuss their manuscripts. In a no-strings attached process, they will have unfettered access to industry professionals, without having to commit to one publisher or agent.

We are particularly keen to hear from Black writers, and will be prioritising their applications. The very specific lack of B...

03 July 2020

Niamh Campbell has been awarded the 2020 Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award for her piece 'Love Many,' which you can click here to read online. The prize-winning short story is set in Campbell’s hometown of Dublin and follows the recollections of a woman who has finally met a man she sees a future with, after dating a host of unsuitable men.

Judge David Nicholls commented: “This is an original and touching modern love story. It has such a lovely quality of sadness, exquisite language, and is told with so much delicacy and precision. I was frequently taken aback by an image or an observation. Most of all, I loved the melancholy of it, that atmosphere of late nights and missed chances.” Click here to watch Niamh Campbell, who published her debut novel This Happy just last month, accepting her award virtually.

03 July 2020

Matthew Dooley's Flake, published by Cape, is the first graphic novel to win the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction. Judge Sindhu Vee describes Dooley's debut comic tale of ice cream wars and sibling rivalry as "a rare joy: a laugh out loud story with characters you want to meet again and again." 

The award was set up twenty years ago 'in the spirit' of the Jeeves and Wooster creator PG Wodehouse. Matthew Dooley, who currently works in the House of Commons in its education department, said: "Flake was published on 2nd April, amidst a huge, bewildering global crisis. It’s been a very strange experience. Winning the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize means it’s just got stranger in the best possible way. I’m surprised, overwhelmed and elated to have won. Now, how on earth do you chill a bottle of champagne that big..?"

30 June 2020

Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, which is a twist on a murder mystery tackling hard-hitting subjects such as racial injustice, drugs and consent, has been selected as the winner of the 2020 Nibbies Children's Fiction Book of the Year Award. The annual prize was awarded in the first ever digital-only ceremony on June 29th and you can click here to watch Holly Jackson accepting her British Book Award. 

The debut was also an instant No.1 New York Times bestseller and spent months on the chart when it was first published in the US in February 2020. In the UK it had TCM sales of 59,000 units in 2019, making it the bestselling children’s and YA debut since 2017. 

24 June 2020

The longlists for the Polari Prize and Polari First Book Prize for LGBTQ+ literature have been unveiled in a digital ceremony hosted by author and founder Paul Burston. Longlisted for the former prize is Alice Oseman's Heartstopper, a boy-meets-boy graphic novel romance for young adults and teens, published by Hachette. Julia Armfield's Salt Slow (Picador), which is a debut collection of stories exploring themes of isolation, obsession, love and revenge, is longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize for LGBTQ+ Literature.

The Polari Book Prize, which champions LGBTQ+ books, was first launched in 2011. The shortlist will be announced on 31st July and the winners of the £1,000 and £2,000 prizes will be announced later this year. Click here to discover more.

22 June 2020

Sinéad Gleeson's Constellations has won the Dalkey Literary Award in the Emerging Writer category. The judges felt that her debut essay collection, which delves into art, illness, ghosts, grief and our ways of seeing, was “easily one of the standout books in any field over the last 12 months.” Gleeson accepted her award via video saying she was delighted, “not just because Dalkey Book Festival is one of my favourite festivals but because it’s the first year of the awards. To be recognized for your work is always a wonderful thing, and, for me, just to get on a shortlist is enough, because you already know there have been a lot of people in this crowded field, and you got to the final part. I’m thrilled!”

On the heels of this news, it was also announced that Constellations has been nominated for the James Tait Black Prize in the biography category. This is recognizes the best wor...

18 June 2020

Claire Adam, Isabella Hammad, Inua Ellams and Luke Brown are among the winners of this year's £100, 000 Society of Author Awards. Inua Ellams and Luke Brown each received the £1, 600 Travelling Scholarships, while Isabella Hammand was awarded the £5, 400 Betty Trask Prize for The Parisian and Claire Adam the £4, 000 McKitterick Prize for Golden Child.

Society of Authors chair Joanne Harris presented the awards via an online ceremony on 18th June. She said: “We’ve always said that receiving an SoA Award can be transformational for an author. They aren’t about promoting big corporate sponsors. They don’t seek out one big winner and say ‘This one’s best of all’. Each year, they reward the breadth and depth of books and words, and reward authors at the start of their careers as well as those well established."

Disocver more here.

18 June 2020

The Link-Kuehl Prize for Documentary Editing has been awarded to David Reynolds and Vladimir Pechatnov, eds., with the assistance of Iskander Magadeyev and Olga Kucherenko, for The Kremlin Letters: Stalin’s Wartime Correspondence with Churchill and Roosevelt.

Decision-making during World War II has long been a key topic of study for diplomatic and military historians, not only because the consequences of those decisions continue to shape the world today, but also because of absences in the primary source record stemming from a variety of factors. The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations noted, "One key absence has been Soviet documents, and The Kremlin Letters makes a vital contribution by bringing Soviet sources to light and making them available in English translation."

18 June 2020

Peter Pomerantsev and Luke Brown are among the twelve authors longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize 2020. Brown is longlisted for his second novel, Theft, which tells an emotionally complex story of grief, desire, and Brexit. Pomerantsev's This Is Not Propaganda— a part memoir, part investigation, part cry for help— tours the world and delves into archives, telling the stories of the new information wars, interwoven with passages about his parents’ lives. 

The prize recognises fiction and non-fiction, celebrating "works that stand out on the scale of their endeavour" and push genre boundaries. The authors shortlisted for the £5,000 prize will be announced this summer and the winner will on 15th October at the Durham Book Festival.