Books about immigrant life and masculinity shortlisted for young writer prize
Books exploring masculinity and life as an immigrant have been shortlisted for an award previously won by authors including Sally Rooney and Zadie Smith.
Moses McKenzie's second novel, Fast By The Horns, about black immigrant life and the Rastafari community in 1980s England, is one of four books in the running to win the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer Of The Year Award.
The prize is given annually to the best work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by a British or Irish author of 35 or under with the winner receiving a prize sum of £10,000.
Another shortlisted book is Rural Hours by Harriet Baker which tells the story of three influential writers – Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann – who are transformed by moving to the countryside.
Also featured is Scott Preston's debut novel, The Borrowed Hills, where foot and mouth disease spreads across the hills of Cumbria, leading to farmers losing their sheep.
The last book shortlisted is Strange Relations: Masculinity, Sexuality And Art In Mid-Century America by Ralf Webb which explores the lives and works of four queer writers – James Baldwin, John Cheever, Tennessee Williams and Carson McCullers – and argues for a version of masculinity grounded in love and intimacy.
Chairwoman of the judging panel, Johanna Thomas-Corr said: 'Here are four unforgettable new voices in fiction and non-fiction who possess thrilling potential.
'They are all offering us new angles on the world and doing it with such intelligence and conviction.'
The Barbican Centre will be hosting the annual shortlisted event, chaired by former winner Smith, on Monday, March 17.
The winner of the £10,000 sum will be announced on Tuesday, March 18 at a ceremony in east London.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Billionaire Blavatnik courted to take Daily Telegraph stake
The billionaire who has bankrolled DAZN, the sports-streaming service, is being courted to take a stake in The Daily Telegraph alongside the newspaper's new American majority-owners. Sky News has learnt that Sir Len Blavatnik, whose holding company Access Entertainment owns assets in Britain, including the Theatre Royal Haymarket, has been approached by RedBird Capital Partners about becoming a minority investor in the Telegraph titles. Two sources close to the situation said on Thursday that Sir Len was being sounded out about a deal, although they cautioned that no agreement had been struck and it remained unclear whether one would be. Sir Len, who was knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II for services to philanthropy in 2017, is a prolific investor in the arts, media and entertainment industries. Access Entertainment is run by Danny Cohen, the former BBC director of television. Announcing its agreement to acquire Telegraph Media Group last month for an enterprise valuation of £500m, RedBird Capital said it was "in discussions with select UK-based minority investors with print media expertise and strong commitment to upholding the editorial values of the Telegraph". This was principally a reference to Lord Rothermere, the Daily Mail proprietor, who remains in talks to pay more than £30m for a stake in the Mail's rival right-leaning newspaper group. Goldman Sachs is advising DMGT on the investment, with a deal the subject of ongoing discussions, according to insiders. Read more: The Abu Dhabi state-backed vehicle IMI is still expected to acquire the maximum 15% stake in the Telegraph permitted under proposed new media ownership rules. The government's decision to set the ownership threshold at 15% follows an intensive lobbying campaign by newspaper industry executives concerned that a permanent outright ban could cut off a vital source of funding to an already-embattled industry. However, the deal faces continued opposition from parliamentarians, with The Guardian reporting on Thursday that a cross-party group had written to Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, warning of "potential Chinese state influence" because of links between RedBird Capital chair John Thornton and China's sovereign wealth fund. This suggestion has been dismissed by RedBird Capital insiders. Ukraine-born Sir Len's portfolio of investments includes DAZN, which is now also backed by a Saudi sports group, mobile games studio Tripledot and Scenario Two, a theatre production company. Dovid Efune, the owner of The New York Sun, is meanwhile continuing to assemble a rival bid for the Telegraph, having secured backing from Jeremy Hosking, the prominent City investor. His prospects, however, look to have diminished after the former chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, was reported to have withdrawn from his so-called 'British bid'. The Telegraph titles' parent company was forced into insolvency proceedings two years ago by Lloyds Banking Group, which ran out of patience with the Barclay family, their long-standing owner. RedBird IMI, a joint venture between the two firms, paid £600m several months later to acquire a call option that was intended to convert into ownership of the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator magazine. That objective was thwarted by a change in media ownership laws, which banned any form of foreign state ownership. Some parliamentarians are continuing to argue that a 15% threshold would be too high, and that the proposed rules are ambiguous because they potentially allow for more than one state investor to aggregate their holdings in British newspapers. The Spectator was sold last year for £100m to Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge fund billionaire, who has installed Lord Gove, the former cabinet minister, as its editor. RedBird Capital has been contacted for comment, while a call to Access Industries' London office went unanswered on Thursday lunchtime.
USA Today
33 minutes ago
- USA Today
'Karma Chameleon' is Culture Club's biggest hit. So why don't band members like it?
'Karma Chameleon' is Culture Club's biggest hit. So why don't band members like it? Show Caption Hide Caption Elton John unable to see London musical due to vision loss Singer Elton John told a London crowd he could not see The Devil Wears Prada show due to his recent vision loss. "Karma Chameleon" may be Culture Club's catchiest song, but it's still a sore spot for some band members. In a new documentary, "Boy George & Culture Club," which premiered at the New York Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month, members of the British supergroup lamented the mainstream quality of the song – a harsh departure from their more new wave sound. "We could have put out a fart in a bottle in (1983), it would've been No. 1, and that was it," guitarist Roy Hay, 63, told People of the song at the documentary's premiere. Culture Club film delves into history filled with drama, Boy George, love and drugs "No, I'm kidding," he added. "Here's the thing: It's become a very iconic song, and when we close our concerts with it, and having people singing it back, it's amazing. But if you put it up against the rest of our catalog, it doesn't stand up as a song. But it's a great record." The track, a pure uptempo pop tune more symptomatic of the '80s dance craze, is now a karaoke staple, playing in grocery store aisles and at Bat Mitzvahs, a commercial winfall and a critical shortcoming for a band more focused on the post-punk scene. Boy George on 'Life,' sobriety and why he never gets sick of playing Culture Club hits Boy George, the lead singer and most famed Culture Club alum, had written the song and vouched for its quality despite doubts from the rest of the band. "I knew that if we didn't do it, it would've upset George," bassist Mikey Craig told People. "So I said to Roy, 'We've got to do it.' And we made a bet that it was going to be a No. 1, and Roy lost." "I think we lost a lot of credibility with 'Karma Chameleon,'" Hay told USA TODAY at the premiere. "But it's what we're remembered for." George was notably absent from the film's premiere, as was drummer Jon Moss. Moss and George's complicated romantic relationship helped contribute to the band's downfall, and in 2023, Moss won $2.3 million in a lawsuit against the group, alleging that he was expelled before a 2018 tour. From producer Alison Ellwood, whose recent deep dives into the Laurel Canyon scene and the careers of Cyndi Lauper and The Go-Go's have gained her acclaim, follows Culture Club as they catapulted to stratospheric success in the early '80s with a distinctive combination of pop, reggae and blue-eyed soul hits. It will be available to stream on Netflix later this year. Contributing: Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY
Tom's Guide
35 minutes ago
- Tom's Guide
Prime Video just added a seriously funny action comedy movie starring Orlando Bloom and Bryce Dallas Howard — and you should stream it now
Prime Video is seemingly the place to be for action-comedies this summer. In the coming months, the Amazon streaming service will be home to the chaotic buddy comedy "Heads of State" and the new Eddie Murphy movie, "The Pickup." And, as of today (June 12), the streamer has added a brand-new crime comedy to the scene The movie in question is Tom Kingsley's "Deep Cover," a breezy British action-comedy that puts three improv performers — Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, and Nick Mohammed — in a very precarious position. Our trio is recruited for an unorthodox operation that sees them tangling with menacing figures from London's criminal underworld... to increasingly outlandish results. Wondering whether to stream "Deep Cover" on Prime Video? Read on to get a little more info about the new arrival and a quick round-up of early reactions to the new release. "Deep Cover" is a crime comedy that throws us in with three performers from differing walks of life who find themselves taking a gig that sends them deep undercover. Down-on-her-luck improv teacher Kat (Bryce Dallas Howard) is offered a lucrative role to pretend to be a rough and ready gangster by an undercover cop (Sean Bean) who wants her to infiltrate a crew of drug dealers. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. To fulfill the mission, Kat recruits two of her students, "serious" actor, Marlon (Orlando Bloom) and hapless office worker Hugh (Nick Mohammed), and the trio sets out to impersonate dangerous criminals... and soon find their new gig spiraling way out of control. "Deep Cover" also stars Paddy Considine, Sonoya Mizuno, Ian McShane, Ben Ashenden, Alexander Owen, and Omid Djalili, among others. Having watched it myself, I'd suggest giving "Deep Cover" a shot. It's a sharply written, farcical London-set crime caper — imagine a classic, gritty Guy Ritchie watch, but amp up the absurdities, the comedy, and tone down the bad language and the violence — that offers moderate thrills, but plenty of laughs. All three of our major players are on fine form as their respective characters, but it's Orlando Bloom's turn as "serious actor" Marlon who stands out the most. Marlon's committed to his role as the gang's muscle, no matter how deep the group gets, and as such, he's responsible for some of my favorite moments of the entire film. The action sequences might not be all that exciting, but once the mission's underway, "Deep Cover" moves along at a clip, sketch-comedy style, and makes up for the so-so action with plenty of great lines.. Sprinkle in some satisfying twists and solid turns from the supporting cast, and you've got a solid watch, one that's a cut above plenty of the year's streaming originals. Need a second opinion? Well, at the time of writing, "Deep Cover" has only just been made available to stream on Prime Video, so it doesn't yet have a rating on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. However, there are already several reviews online, and evidently, I'm not the only person who enjoyed the new release. For example, Empire's Ben Travis gave the movie a 4-star review, praising the "ingenious" central conceit, writing, "Does "Deep Cover" work as an improv comedy? Yes, and it delivers strong characterisation, a twisty crime story, and great performances too. End scene." Likewise, Ready Steady Cut's Jonathon Wilson also offered a 4-star verdict, calling "Deep Cover" a "near-perfect popcorn entertainment" and describing it as "an action-comedy with okay action and really funny comedy that puts its all-star cast to work playing exaggerated pastiches of their usual screen personas." Variety critic Guy Lodge offered a more measured response, saying the movie "never quite explodes into hilarity," adding: "this knockabout farce neither dies nor kills, even as its onscreen body count ramps up: It just chugs along enthusiastically for 99 minutes, throwing about a lot of slapstick and a lot of quips, but only intermittently landing an outright laugh." So, bottom line: yes, if you're looking for a laugh or a fast-moving, silly crime comedy, you should stream "Deep Cover" on Prime Video. It's easy, fun viewing that should satisfy those looking for some daft action-comedy antics. Not sold on "Deep Cover," but still looking for something new to stream on Prime Video? We can help. Check out our guide to the best movies on Prime Video for tons of top streaming recommendations perfect for your next movie night.
