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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