OHMYGOSSIP — Sophie Ward has been shortlisted for the 2021 McKitterick Prize.
The 56-year-old former ‘Holby City’ and ‘Heartbeat’ actress has impressed the Society of Authors with her 2020 debut novel ‘Love and Other Thought Experiments’.
The winners of all nine awards will be revealed on June 9, with five other writers – including ‘Shuggie Bain’ author Douglas Stuart – in the running for the prize, which is for debut novelists over the age of 40.
She tweeted: “So happy to be included on this list. Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and thank you
@Soc_of_Authors #McKitterickPrize
“A drink indoors with friends is now compulsory.”
Also on the shortlist for the category are ‘All the Water in the World’ by Karen Raney, ‘The Apparition Phase’ by Will Maclean, ‘As You Were’ by Elaine Feeney and ‘Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line’ by Deepa Anappara.
Nick Rennison – who will judge alongside Sabrina Mahfouz and Christopher Tayler – said: “The titles on the shortlist vary greatly in subject and setting, from a young Glaswegian’s love for his deeply damaged mother to a teenager’s encounter with the potentially supernatural, from the dark underbelly of an Indian city to middle-class American suburbia.
“What unites them all are energy, inventiveness and a commitment to the novel as an endlessly rewarding, and inspiring, literary form.”
The McKitterick Prize is one of nine awards being handed out next month, with other nominees including children’s author Kiran Millwood Hargreave, lawyer turned children’s writer Rashmi Sirdeshpande, podcaster and blogger Maame Blue, 76-year-old writer Elfan Jones and former gang member Graeme Armstrong.
‘The Young Team’ writer Graeme said: “Working class voices and themes are still viewed by many as not befitting of literary recognition.
“This goes some way to challenge that and to convince other young people with greatly managed expectations, that they too can achieve dreams they have been told are above their designated station.”
Novelist Joanne Harris will introduce the ceremony on June 9, while a series of free online events themed around the Society of Authors’ Awards – featuring past and present winners and judges – will run from May 25 to June 18.

Source: VacationHunter.Online
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