The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Never too early to start.

Listopia here: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

News today of the first novel in 6 years from a former winner, Nicola Barker, Tonyinterruptor, out from Granta next summer.

You couldn't really call John Lincoln Braithwaite a heckler, but he has an unquenchable urge to disrupt live cultural events. Who is he? What does he want?

TonyInterruptor traces the aftermath one such interruption as it reverberates through its characters' lives, upending everything in its wake and posing fundamental questions about authenticity, integrity, the internet, truth and love. Audacious and anarchic, it confirms (yet again) Nicola Barker's singular brilliance.

Granta the mag had a story/extract last July - https://granta.com/tonyinterruptor/

And exciting news as well of another novel from Tell author Jonathan Buckley, One Boat due out from Fitzcarraldo.

On losing her father, Teresa returns to a small town on the Greek coast - the same place she visited when grieving her mother nine years ago. She immerses herself again in the life of the town, observing the inhabitants going about their business, a quiet backdrop for her reckoning with herself. An episode from her first visit resurfaces vividly - her encounter with John, a man struggling to come to terms with the violent death of his nephew. Soon Teresa encounters some of the people she met last time around: Petros, an eccentric mechanic, whose life story may or may not be part of John's; the beautiful Niko, a diving instructor; and Xanthe, a waitress in one of the cafés on the leafy town square. They talk about their longings, regrets, the passing of time, their sense of who they are. Artfully constructed, absorbing and insightful, One Boat is a brilliant novel grappling with questions of identity, free will, guilt and responsibility.

The Goldsmiths loves a repeat shortlisted

So Call Me Ishmaelle by Xiaolu Guo may be one to watch - rewrite of Moby Dick.

The Goldsmiths prize was a question on Mastermind - with supplementaries on A Girl Is a Half Formed Thing and Ducks Newburyport

https://x.com/GoldsmithsPrize/status/...

Judges are out:

Amy Sackville chair (from Goldsmiths)

Mark Haddon

Megan Nolan

Simon Okotie

Simon Okotie has a essayistic book out shortly on The Future of the Novel - I’ve read an advanced copy which he sent me - great to have someone thinking so deeply about the future of the form judging the prize.

No one from new statesman. That’s unusual.

And only one past shortlisted author.

Panel interview with the judges

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/bo...

I wouldn’t say they feel entirely on same page with what the prize is looking for - Haddon (who elsewhere cites Orbital) compared to Okotie

Mark Haddon: “I am wary of saying that fiction of any kind ‘matters’. I think we bookish people - writers, readers, publishers, academics, librarians… - all too readily assume that reading ‘quality’ books constitutes some kind of royal road to better mental health, good citizenship and empathy with other human beings. We tend to forget how many people there are out there who either don’t - or can’t - read, and I dislike any pronouncements which suggests they are somehow lesser on that account. I’d say, simply, that ‘mould-breaking’ fiction is something that gives me and many other people profound joy. And that, I think, is more than enough.”

Amy Sackville: “There’s space for all kinds of art and entertainment in the world. What I think fiction is uniquely placed to do is to think about the relation between the interior and the exterior. I don’t think fiction, or any art really, should be didactic or remedial or educational, or be instrumentalised in those ways, but I do think it can serve a function to unsettle us, or jolt us, or surprise us. It can make space for things that are complicated and open to question, and difficult to articulate and messy.”

Megan Nolan: “I’m often quoting a nice line by somebody I have completely forgotten - it may have been Anne Enright - which refers to the unique capabilities of the novel in terms of portraying multiple opposing or competing consciousnesses. I love all sorts of culture but I do feel the novel is strongest in this regard and having a mould-breaking work of fiction force you to witness a person or place or time in a way which was formerly unavailable to you is invaluable.”

Simon Okotie: “Eimear McBride was the first winner of the Goldsmiths Prize. She spent years trying to find a publisher for A Girl is a Half -Formed Thing. When that book was published, it really did something new. These kinds of books are not easy, in terms of form or content. But they challenge our view of the world, and our view of ourselves. They’re not consoling. They’re not just reinforcing our limited sense of ourselves. They are mind expanding, you know. So that’s what mould breaking means for me. It opens something up. And it does sometimes take effort to engage with those art forms.

I also think maybe we’ll look back at this period as a Golden Age for the novel. I think over the last 10 to 15 or 20 years, particularly with the emergence of a lot more independent publishers who can take risks, and also prizes like the Goldsmiths Prize, maybe this is a golden age we’re living through, in terms of writers in these more experimental traditions being published and being found.”

Thanks - it's interesting to see how defensive some of the judges are about literature.

I'd say that if books don't matter culturally and intellectually as well as emotionally, why have so many people and institutions across so much history and so many countries banned and burned books? If books and the ideas they contain can be conceived of as so dangerous that they need to be destroyed, then that proves their importance to culture.

Agreed

Haddon is an interesting choice - as he was on the shortlist previously, and in year with some strong choices (Ducks N, personal reservations aside, Levy's book, Waidner) - but a book that didn't really seem to fit the prize at all.

Except it does it the definition of the prize (who knew) is "something that gives me and many other people profound joy" (my review from the time concludes "Haddon clearly had a lot of fun writing it").

Roman Clodia wrote: "Thanks - it's interesting to see how defensive some of the judges are about literature.

I'd say that if books don't matter culturally and intellectually as well as emotionally, why have so many p..."

Great post RC

Yes from my review of Haddon’s Goldsmith shortlisted Porpoise

In a recent Guardian review, Haddon talked about wanting to exercise his writing muscles. “I thought to myself: ‘If I’m going to write another novel about a family, particularly one about another lower-middle-class family from Swindon, it’s a bit like having the Millennium Falcon but only using it for going to Sainsbury’s. I thought: ‘I want to know what all these knobs and levers do.’”

And I think this serves as an analogy for the book. If someone had only ever used the Millennium Falcon to go to Sainsbury’s but decided to test it to its full capabilities you can imagine that they would indulge themselves in a wild ride, exploring as much of the (fictional) universe as they can, moving from one area to another but with only a limited sense of control, and probably creating a bit of a mess in their wake. And while they would probably have huge fun piloting the ride – you would not really enjoy being a passenger.

Welcome to “The Porpoise”. I only wish he had gone (Han) Solo.

The 2025 judges have been announced:

Amy Sackville (Chair)
Mark Haddon
Megan Nolan
Simon Okotie

Also:
Shortlist: 1 October 2025
Winner: 5 November 2025

https://www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-pri...

Thanks re dates - I think we have discussed the judges higher up the thread.

Very impressed with Speed Glum Hero by D Mortimer - my review.

Not many novels come with a scratch card:



Though the limited print run (200 copies) and the limited, although perfect, page count (36 pages) may count against it.

The Goldsmiths has sometimes been accused of being London centric. Wonder if the judges might want to look north to Doncaster for a book as this feels a contender

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

Hope the book does well - but that Donny Rovers get turned over by the Wombles in the big promotion clash this weekend, although both are special football clubs with a real sense of community.

Sam posted this review to the Booker thread 6 days ago.

I don't tend to read that thread largely as the Booker doesn't tend to feature books like this.

Plus there is a rather massive football game at lunchtime today which makes it pertinent to post now.

Nicola Barker has a new novel out Tonyinterruptor

It was the news of that book that caused this thread to be started 6m ago...

Paul wrote: "Never too early to start. News today of the first novel in 6 years from a former winner, Nicola Barker, Tonyinterruptor, out from Granta next summer."

Good point. I did not have a copy then though so ignored it.

Small change in rules this year - the rule which excludes former Goldsmiths students/staff is time limited now to first 5 years after they leave.

Now there's a book I thought of as a contender, dismissed as the author was a past Goldsmiths student ... and now can't remember what it was!

I've created a Listopia (have also put link in first post):
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

Thank you for creating the listopia. Four caught my attention. How many books are usually shortlisted? October will be packed.

How is Glyph eligible?

Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer wrote: "How is Glyph eligible?"

I made the classic error of assuming Goodreads was accurate.

Carl wrote: "Thank you for creating the listopia. Four caught my attention. How many books are usually shortlisted? October will be packed."

Always six. No longlist.

Cool, thanks Paul. I have We Pretty Pieces of Flesh on my shelf, just haven't gotten to it yet.

Rose wrote: "Cool, thanks Paul. I have We Pretty Pieces of Flesh on my shelf, just haven't gotten to it yet."

Me too! Looking forward to this one.

Perhaps the first to take advantage of the new eligibility rules - Miriam Robertson and “And Notre Dame is Burning”

From Twitter

“We are delighted to announce that this year's shortlist readings will be @southbankcentre as part of the London Literature Festival on 22nd October”

Rather handier location wise than the university although perhaps less conducive to the informal chats with authors and judges that were a characteristic of the Goldsmiths based readings.

I hadn’t realised Ben Myers has a new novel out Jesus Christ Kinski

Also I wonder if Prototype will enter Fair: The Life-Art of Translation. It is arguably more an essay/memoir but done creatively as Kate Briggs’ A Little Art made the list.

I didn’t have Universality on the list. Must have been a reason but can’t remember why (unless it was fact that I read it in August last year so forgot it wasn’t published then).

One for next year's prize but former winner M John Harrison has a new novel out next year:

https://ambientehotel.wordpress.com/2...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1800812949

This year's Goldsmiths Prize lecture has been announced - October 2nd, Geoff Dyer:
https://bsky.app/profile/goldsmithspr...

And the shortlist is being announced live at the end of that lecture.