The longlist for the Warwick Prize for Writing 2013, a biennial award worth £25,000, has been announced.
Warwick Prize for Writing 2013:
Julian Barnes, one of 12 authors shortlisted for the £25,000 prize Photo: Rex
Features
The 2013 longlist for The Warwick Prize for Writing,
awarded biennially for any "excellent and substantial work" written in English,
has been announced today. The prize, known for its diversity, accepts writers of
all forms and genres.
This year’s longlist reveals a number of previous award-winners, including
the Booker Prize winning Sense of an Ending
by Julian Barnes, and Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, one of the Telegraph’s
“Books of the Year” in
2010. Writers such as Robert Macfarlane, Alice Oswald, and Amitav Ghosh also
feature on the list.
For the first time, the list comprises nominations not only from the staff
and students of Warwick University, but also from Monash University, Melbourne,
marking the new relationship formed between the two institutions.
Professor Ed Byrne, Vice Chancellor and President of Monash University, joined the panel
for the prize in celebration of this union: “This is just another example of the
exciting initiatives being developed through the Warwick-Monash Alliance. It is
a truly global competition that crosses all disciplines and provides entrants
with an international platform from which to showcase their written talent.”
The longlist will be whittled down to six books during August, and the final
prize-winner will be announced in late September. He or she will be awarded
£25,000, as well as a short residency at Warwick University.
Despite the dominance of works of fiction and poetry included on this and
previous longlists, writers of non-fiction have claimed the award since its
launch in 2008.
Professor Ian Sansom, Chairman of the Judges and a professor at Warwick’s English and Comparative Literature department, commented: “This is an extraordinary longlist and demonstrates exactly why the Warwick Prize is unique. We have here books in every genre, from all around the world. The only difficulty now will be choosing a winner from among them.”
Summarising the values behind the award, David Morley, the inaugural director, said the winners of The Warwick Prize for Writing are “on that very edge of 'not knowing' and knowing: a place of creativity, energy and adventure”.
The Warwick Prize for Writing 2013 longlist in full:
Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science by Jim Al-Khalili (Penguin) – Non-fiction
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (Jonathan Cape) - Fiction
Sufficient Grace by Amy Espeseth (Scribe) - Fiction
Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine (Icon Books) –Non-fiction
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (4th Estate) - Fiction
River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh (John Murray) - Fiction
Cumulus by Robert Gray (John Leonard Press) - Poetry
The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally (John Murray) – Fiction
Suddenly, a Knock on the Door by Etgar Keret (Chatto & Windus) – Fiction
Book of Sins by Nidaa Khoury (House of Nehesi Publishers) - Poetry
The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane (Hamish Hamilton) – Non-fiction
Memorial by Alice Oswald (Faber and Faber) – Poetry
Professor Ian Sansom, Chairman of the Judges and a professor at Warwick’s English and Comparative Literature department, commented: “This is an extraordinary longlist and demonstrates exactly why the Warwick Prize is unique. We have here books in every genre, from all around the world. The only difficulty now will be choosing a winner from among them.”
Summarising the values behind the award, David Morley, the inaugural director, said the winners of The Warwick Prize for Writing are “on that very edge of 'not knowing' and knowing: a place of creativity, energy and adventure”.
The Warwick Prize for Writing 2013 longlist in full:
Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science by Jim Al-Khalili (Penguin) – Non-fiction
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (Jonathan Cape) - Fiction
Sufficient Grace by Amy Espeseth (Scribe) - Fiction
Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine (Icon Books) –Non-fiction
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (4th Estate) - Fiction
River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh (John Murray) - Fiction
Cumulus by Robert Gray (John Leonard Press) - Poetry
The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally (John Murray) – Fiction
Suddenly, a Knock on the Door by Etgar Keret (Chatto & Windus) – Fiction
Book of Sins by Nidaa Khoury (House of Nehesi Publishers) - Poetry
The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane (Hamish Hamilton) – Non-fiction
Memorial by Alice Oswald (Faber and Faber) – Poetry