Delighted to be working on this truly innovative memoir from the bestselling author of ‘ Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life’ . This is the first book to offer an additional layer of reader engagement via text messaging as well as her usual distinct blend of observational humour and wistful reflections on life.   

THE FIRST BRITISH WINNER IN THE AWARD’S HISTORY TRIUMPHS WITH HIS STORY ‘THE HUMAN PHONOGRAPH’

Jonathan Tel has won the 2016 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award with ‘The Human Phonograph’, a beautifully observed story of a marriage lived in the shadow of the Chinese nuclear weapons programme of the 1960s. He was previously shortlisted in 2014 for his story, ‘The Shoe King of Shanghai’.

Tel beat off strong competition from five other exceptional writers – this year’s was a truly international shortlist of great breadth and skill. Alongside Tel, it comprised American Edith Pearlman, author of over 250 works of short fiction; the Irish writer Colum McCann, Man Booker longlisted author of Transatlantic; Zimbabwe’s Petina Gappah, winner of theGuardian First Book Award and longlisted for the Baileys Prize 2016; American writer Alix Christie and Canadiannovelist Nicholas Ruddock, both of whom set their stories in European cities.

‘The Human Phonograph’ is set in the mysterious Factory 221 in Qinghai and examines the relationship between a husband and wife who have not seen each other for seven years.

Judge and best-selling author, Rose Tremain commented, ‘The hesitant relationship between a husband and wife who barely know each other forms the basis of this troubling, well-wrought story, set on a Chinese nuclear base in the 1960s and 70s.  But it is the image taken from the title – of a man who, in a silent, punitive and desolate world, can remember the old songs and sing them perfectly every time – that elevates it to something truly memorable. The decision to award the prize to this work was unanimous among the judges and we all feel that Jonathan Tel has a bright future as a fiction writer’.

Andrew Holgate, judge and literary editor of the Sunday Times said, ‘Jonathan Tel’s winning story is a remarkable and very moving feat of storytelling and it’s all the more remarkable when you consider the huge number of entries we had this year – over 800, a record for the prize.’

The winner was announced at a gala dinner hosted by EFG at Stationers’ Hall in London on Friday 22nd April.

The 2016 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award is the world’s richest prize for a single short story. This, its seventh year, sees the award again cementing its reputation for showcasing both established and emerging writers.

As winner, Jonathan Tel will receive £30,000. The five other shortlisted writers will each receive £1,000.

This year’s judging panel comprises broadcaster and novelist Melvyn Bragg; critic and commentator Alex Clark; novelist and short story-writer Mark Haddon, and award-winning author Rose Tremain. Andrew Holgate, Literary Editor of TheSunday Times, completes the line-up, alongside the non-voting chair of judges Lord Matthew Evans, who co-founded the award in 2010.

Readers can read the winning and shortlisted stories on the new website for the prize:www.shortstoryaward.co.uk

Irvine Welsh kicks off The Live Blade Tour at Huddersfield Literature Festival

One of the most influential novelists of his generation, Irvine Welsh, will be appearing at the University of Huddersfield on Sunday 3^rd April as part of the 2016 Huddersfield Literature Festival.  This is the first event of Welsh’s UK The Live Blade Tour for his long-awaited new novel The Blade Artist, which is published on April 7th by Jonathan Cape.  The Blade Artist sees the dark past of Trainspotting character, Begbie, catch up with his reinvented present-day self.  Welsh will appear in conversation discussing the novel and his career. 

The author of ten novels, Welsh came to prominence with his debut Trainspotting (1993), which was successfully adapted for stage and screen.  A film adaptation of Filth was released in 2013 and Porno (sequel to Trainspotting) will start filming this year, with the original cast and director Danny Boyle.

Irvine Welsh in conversation with Nick Ahad
Diamond Jubilee Lecture Theatre, Business School,
University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, HD1 3DH

Sunday 3rd April 2:30pm

Tickets: £10 / £5 concessions
Telephone 01484 430528

The Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award

EXCEPTIONAL INTERNATIONAL SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR
2016 SUNDAY TIMES EFG SHORT STORY AWARD

Three men and three women from five countries and across three continents make up a truly international six-strong shortlist for the 2016 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. The shortlist comprises American Edith Pearlman, author of over 250 works of fiction; the Irish writer Colum McCann, Man Booker longlisted author of Transatlantic; Zimbabwe’s Petina Gappah, winner of the Guardian First Book Award and now longlisted for the Baileys Prize 2016; Jonathan Tel, the British winner of last year’s Commonwealth Short Story Prize; and American writer Alix Christie and Canadian novelist Nicholas Ruddock, both of whom set their stories in European cities.

Judge and best-selling author, Mark Haddon commented, ‘Judging literary prizes can be a bruising experience but this was a shockingly uncontentious and wholly enjoyable experience. I think we could all have happily extended the process to a few more meetings in order to sit around and talk about stories. It was also interesting and salutary for a writer of short stories, to note the breadth of often contradictory qualities that different members of the panel expected a really good short story to demonstrate. The lesson being: don’t expect to please every reader but whichever kind of reader you’re trying to please, make your story as near perfect as you can. Rewrite and edit, rinse and repeat.
Irrespective of whether a particular story touched us, I think we all came to appreciate writers who had ironed out all those snarls and glitches which litter every writer’s early drafts and produced a final draft which felt truly finished.’

Andrew Holgate, judge and literary editor of the Sunday Times said, ‘What impressed me most about this year’s shortlist is the sheer variety of form and subject matter, from Colum McCann’s gripping piece of meta-fiction to the dreamlike qualities of Nicholas Ruddock’s The Phosphorescence and the nostalgia of Edith Pearlman’s Unbeschert. Interwar New York, a hair stylist in Africa, a dacha near East Berlin and a research station in China’s nuclear weapons programme – quite some breadth, in a collection of exceptionally accomplished stories. Picking a winner will be immensely difficult.’
The 2016 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award winner will receive £30,000, the world’s richest prize for a single short story. Regularly attracting talent from around the world, this year’s shortlist again reflects the prize’s global reach.
The six shortlisted writers and the titles of their short stories are:

‘The Dacha’ by Alix Christie
‘The News of Her Death’ by Petina Gappah
‘What Time is it Now, Where You Are?’ by Colum McCann
‘Unbeschert’ by Edith Pearlman
‘The Phosphoresence’ by Nicholas Ruddock
‘The Human Phonograph’ by Jonathan Tel

Now in its seventh year, the award has again cemented its reputation for showcasing both established and emerging writers. Alix Christie’s first novel, Gutenberg’s Apprentice, was published in 2014, whilst celebrated author Edith Pearlman has published more than 250 works of short fiction. Jonathan Tel is the only author to have been previously shortlisted.
The winner will receive £30,000, and the five other shortlisted writers will each receive £1,000. The winner will be announced at a gala dinner hosted by EFG at Stationers’ Hall in London on Friday 22 April. Readers can read the shortlisted stories on the new website for the prize: www.shortstoryaward.co.uk
This year’s judging panel comprises broadcaster and novelist Melvyn Bragg; critic and commentator Alex Clark; novelist and short story-writer Mark Haddon, and award-winning author Rose Tremain. Andrew Holgate, Literary Editor of The Sunday Times, completes the line-up, alongside the non-voting chair of judges Lord Matthew Evans, who co-founded the award in 2010.

The Award accepts entries of 6,000 words or under published in English from fiction authors from anywhere in the world who have been published in the UK or Ireland. The Award reflects The Sunday Times’ support for outstanding writing and the rich literary heritage of the newspaper, and the ongoing commitment of EFG, a leading international private bank, to the literary world. The Award is managed each year by the reading charity, BookTrust.

Previous winners are Chinese writer Yiyun Li for her story ‘A Sheltered Woman’ (2015), three Pulitzer prizewinners – US author Adam Johnson (2014), US-Dominican author Junot Diaz (2013) and US author Anthony Doerr (2011) – Kevin Barry from Ireland (2012), and CK Stead from New Zealand (2010). Shortlisted authors have included Hilary Mantel, Emma Donoghue, David Vann, Elizabeth Strout, Ali Smith and Gerard Woodward.

For full details of the Award visit:
www.shortstoryaward.co.uk or www.booktrust.org.uk/sundaytimesEFG
Keep up-to-date with the Award via Twitter (@shortstoryaward , @EFGint and #STEFG) and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunday-Times-EFG-Short-Story-Award/103783816320081

KEY DATE
Friday 22 April 2016 9pm Winner announced

The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet by Dr Michael Mosley  (Short Books) hit the headlines  (and best sellers!) last week with a five part serial in the Daily Mail.

Read more here about how to Beat Type 2 Diabetes purely thought diet and exercise –   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3404259/Eat-beat-diabetes-just-eight-weeks-s-life-changing-diet-help-avoid-reverse-Type-2-diabetes-best-s-tasty-way-health.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3393126/Tune-body-clock-never-feel-stressed-list-s-favourite-relaxation-expert-teaches-calmness.html

We are what we eat. And the same goes for our dogs…

 Over the past 20 years, our dog’s lives have come to mimic our own. They are overfed, under-exercised and stressed, and because of this they are increasingly taking on our shape and disease pattern. More than half the dogs in this country are now either overweight or obese. And the instance of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and inflammatory bowl disease in our dogs has rocketed.

In this book, Kate Bendix presents a brilliantly compelling case for better dog nutrition. Based on the latest science, it includes enough pet food knowledge to enable you not only to get your dog’s weight down but to transform her health in general. It will sort out many of the common, niggling health issues (itchy skin, dog breath, dodgy joints) and even prolong her life. Follow this advice and you will have a slimmer, happier dog – a gleaming, sleek Greek god of a hound who snoozes when she should, doesn’t moult as if fur just went out of fashion, and runs like the wind. Just because she can!

The catch? There isn’t one. The Dog Diet is easy, it won’t cost you a fortune or eat into your precious downtime; and, wait for it… your dog will actually enjoy it.

Kate Bendix worked for many years in television documentaries, before setting up her website, My Itchy Dog. She is an experienced broadcaster and features regularly on radio shows discussing dog health, she also writes for the canine magazines.

Some discussion points from the author:

• Dog Food – the myth about super-premium brands – often very similar to most economy foods but marketed cleverly. What do they really contain?

• Finding the right mix of raw food / home cooked food / bought food to feed your dog.

• Treats – how to make delicious homemade treats for your dog – or failing that the best ones you can buy from the shop.

• Healing Recipes to make your mutt feel better – whether it’s a leaking gut, keeping joints supple and pain free or helping your dog take his medicine – these natural recipes can really help.

• Kate can also talk about general dog know-how – such as how to select the right breed for your life, taking your dog on holiday, training your puppy, rehabilitating rescue dogs, seasonal problems etc.

“A practical and funny handbook… which shows how easily a varied and unprocessed diet can make dogs slim and vibrant.”

Anna Webb – Barking Blonde & broadcaster

Or visit Kate’s website – www.myitchydog.co.uk

Watch out for the luminous film adaptation of ‘Brooklyn’ by Colm Tóibín which is released by Lionsgate on 6th November 2015 Nationwide.

The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma (ONE) has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2015, the winner will be announced on 13th October.

Read the first chapter of Emma Craigie’s ‘What Was Never Said’ with the Guardian’s feature

Find out why Emma Craigie’s young adult fiction about FGM is causing so much buzz with a first chapter preview courtesy of Emma and the Guardian.

Alongside this, read Emma’s piece for the Guardian on her research for the book and the students who inspired it, as well as her profile interview with The Sunday Times.

What Was Never Said was published by Short Books in May. Find out more about the book at our website here.