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A title by independent poetry publisher Salt, which staved off closure with its "Just One Book” campaign earlier this year, has scored a nomination in this year’s Guardian First Book Award longlist, announced today (28th August).
Siân Hughes’ The Missing joins a 10-strong list dominated by indies, including Indie Alliance members Granta, Portobello, Atlantic, and two from Faber, plus a non-fiction study of Nigeria from I B Tauris author Michael Peel.
The longlist comprises four non-fiction titles, four novels, a short story collection and a collection of poetry. The award aims to recognise and reward the finest new writing talent.
Chair of the judges, Guardian literary editor Claire Armitstead, said: "As in previous years, the longlist is extremely diverse, which is what makes the award so unique.
"In particular this year it reflects the way in which the divisions between genres are shifting and collapsing, and shows the energy and imagination with which the best new writers are confronting a world in transition.”
The longlist will be reduced to a shortlist of five by a judging panel which includes Stuart Broom from competition partner Waterstone’s, representing the views of the retailer’s reading groups, recruited by five stores around the UK. The shortlist will be revealed in November, and the winner announced in December.
The longlist
The Secret Lives of Buildings by Edward Hollis (Portobello)
Direct Red by Gabriel Weston (Cape)
The Strangest Man by Graham Farmelo (Faber)
A Swamp Full of Dollars by Michael Peel (I B Tauris)
The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton (Granta)
The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey (Cape)
The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw (Atlantic)
The Selected Works of TS Spivet by Reif Larsen (Harvill)
An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah (Faber)
The Missing, by Sian Hughes (Salt)