News: books

Books in the Media: Meghan, Duchess of Sussex sits comfortably in critic's picks

Last week, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex published her first children's book The Bench with Penguin Random House Children's. It picked up reviews from the Evening Standard, the Irish Times, the Telegraph, the Independent and the New York Times, making... Read more

Bhattacharya wins Spread the Word Life Writing Prize

Santanu Bhattacharya has won Spread the Word’s Life Writing Prize 2021, with "The Nicer One", hailed by judges as a "gut-punch of a piece".... Read more

McMullan and Millwood Hargrave win Society of Authors awards

Thomas McMullan, Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Fredrik Logevall are among the writers and illustrators who have won awards from the Society of Authors this year. ... Read more

Walker launches third children's sports writing competition

Walker Books is launching its third Young Sportswriter of the Year competition, in partnership with the Guardian and the Football School series of books.... Read more

Bloomsbury and Granta claim three each on Orwell Prize shortlists

Bloomsbury and Granta have three titles each shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, and Political Fiction. Read more

Femi made art editor at Poetry London

Poetry London magazine has appointed poet and director Caleb Femi as its new art editor, with effect from 14th June. Read more

Comp model still has place but can hold back innovation and diversity, editors say

Comping, the practice of comparing new submissions to other similar books, still has a place in the publishing industry but its value is limited and can... Read more

Hughes wins £10,000 Encore Award for The Wild Laughter

Caoilinn Hughes has won the £10,000 RSL Encore Award for her "grand feat of comic ingenuity” The Wild Laughter (Oneworld). Read more

Stuart and Millwood Hargrave make Society of Authors Awards shortlists

Douglas Stuart and Kiran Millwood Hargrave are among the 34 writers and illustrators shortlisted for the Society of Authors Awards this year. Read more

Walker Books teams up with indies to give Halls and Litchfield book to community heroes

Walker Books is collaborating with independent bookshops across the UK to give free copies of Rain Before Rainbows by Smriti Halls and David Litchfield to local heroes in... Read more

Lindsay Literary Agency offers scholarship for undrerrepresented author

The Lindsay Literary Scholarship is returning for a fourth year, offering access to next month's Virtual Writers’ Weekend alongside one-to-one tuition for a children's writer from an... Read more

PFD launches Contemporary Classics list

Literary agency Peters Fraser & Dunlop (PFD) has announced the launch of Contemporary Classics, a list of literary estates and select established authors. ... Read more

PRH updates on leadership target as diversity and inclusion report published

Penguin Random House UK has set a target to make its senior leadership team more representative of society with its inaugural diversity and inclusion report... Read more

Ebury rush-publishes TikTok sensation Burn After Writing

Ebury is rush-publishing a new edition of designer Sharon Jones' Burn After Writing, after it became a viral sensation through TikTok. ... Read more

Network for the creative industry’s working-class members launches

Jed Hallam, head of Mediabrands Content Studio, has created a network for people who are working-class or from a working-class background in the creative industries.... Read more