Neglected Gems ... Sybille BEDFORD

Bibliography
BEDFORD Sybille [1911-2006] Novelist, biographer, travel writer. Born Sybille von Schoenebeck in Charlottenburg, Germany. Novels Jigsaw: An Unsentimental Education: A Biographical Novel (1989: shortlisted for the 1989 Booker Prize for Fiction); A Compass Error (1968); A Favourite of the Gods (1962); A Legacy (1956) Nonfiction The Faces of Justice (1961); The Best We Can Do (1958); The Trial of Dr Adams (also published as The Best We Can Do: The Trial of Dr Adams (1958) Biography Aldous Huxley (1973) Essays Pleasures and Landscapes (2003); As It Was (1990) Memoir Quicksands (2005) Travel The Sudden View (revised as A Visit to Don Otavio: A Mexican Journey (1953)

Recommended
Novels Jigsaw: An Unsentimental Education: A Biographical Novel (1989); A Favourite of the Gods (1962); A Legacy (1956)
Memoir Quicksands (2005)
Travel The Sudden View (revised as A Visit to Don Otavio: A Mexican Journey (1953)

Diane SETTERFIELD ... The Thirteenth Tale (2006)

DIANE SETTERFIELD’s The Thirteenth Tale (Orion, Atria, 2006) is one of the biggest fiction débuts of 2006. This big, sprawling novel is about an ailing, reclusive famous novelist who decides to recount the events of her life to the young woman whom she has chosen to be her official biographer; there are family secrets aplenty and the magic of books and storytelling. We can only be free if we confront our inner demons and exorcise the ghosts that haunt us. I have read a couple of chapters of the advance reading copy and I am already hooked. With this novel, Setterfield delivers the kind of yarn that keeps you turning the pages at an unflagging pace, the kind you can spend the weekend holed up with and put down feeling as though you have woken up from a deep and wonderful spell. If you love books and the reading life, you will find this novel a compelling emotional mystery. A good book to lose yourself in. Look out for it in September 2006.

Ivan DOIG ... The Whistling Season (2006)

Bibliography
DOIG Ivan [1939-] Novelist. Born in White Sulphur Springs, Montana, U.S. Novels The Whistling Season (2006); Prairie Nocturne (2003); Mountain Time (1999); Bucking the Sun (1996); Ride With Me, Mariah Montana (1990); Dancing at the Rascal Fair (1987); English Creek (1984); The Sea Runners (1982) Nonfiction Winter Brothers: A Season at the Edge of America (1980) Memoir Heart Earth (1993); This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind (1978)

Rory STEWART ... The Places in Between (2004)

Bibliography
STEWART Rory [1973-] Travel writer. Born in Hong Kong. Nonfiction Occupational Hazards: My Time Governing in Iraq (published as The Prince of the Marshes and Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq in the U.S.) (2006) Travel The Places in Between (2004: winner of the 2005 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize; shortlisted for the 2004 Guardian First Book Award and the 2004 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for Literature)

POETRY ... Owen SHEERS

Not Yet My Mother
By Owen Sheers

Yesterday I found a photo
of you at seventeen,
holding a horse and smiling,
not yet my mother.

The tight riding hat hid your hair,
and your legs were still the long shins of a boy’s.
You held the horse by the halter,
your hand a fist under its huge jaw.

The blown trees were still in the background
and the sky was grained by the old film stock,
but what caught me was your face,
which was mine.

And I thought, just for a second, that you were me.
But then I saw the woman’s jacket,
nipped at the waist, the ballooned jodhpurs,
and of course the date, scratched in the corner.

All of which told me again,
that this was you at seventeen, holding a horse
and smiling, not yet my mother,
although I was clearly already your child.

From The Blue Book (Seren, 2000)

Bibliography
SHEERS Owen [1974-] Poet. Born in Suva, Fiji. Poetry Skirrid Hill (2005: winner of a Somerset Maugham Award for Poetry); The Blue Book (2000: shortlisted for the 2001 Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection and the 2001 Welsh Book of the Year Award) Travel/Memoir The Dust Diaries (2004)

BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS

FOR those who love reading books about books and the reading life, the following are some tomes that you should explore:

Book by Book: Notes on Reading and Life (2006) / Michael Dirda
An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland (2003) / Michael Dirda
Every Book Its Reader: The Power of the Printed Word to Stir the World (2005) / Nicholas A. Basbanes
Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption (2006) / Laura J. Miller

2006 Miles Franklin Literary Award: Results

“A novel needs a story like music needs notes: it’s what sweeps people up and carries them along and everything else—the beauty of the words, the ideas, the psychological insights—exists only because of the storytelling. But for a writer, if a book isn’t read, it doesn’t live; it’s like keeping a painting in a dark room.” Roger McDonald

AUSTRALIAN novelist Roger McDonald has been declared the winner of the 2006 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia’s premier but most controversial literary prize, for his book, The Ballad of Desmond Kale (Vintage/Random House Australia, 2005), a rollicking saga set during the advent of British settlement in Australia and the beginnings of Australia’s wool trade. Heartiest congratulations! The judges called it “... a historical novel in a grand, operatic style, an affectionate and bravura performance by a novelist at the height of his powers. As the ‘ballad’ suggests, we are meant to recognise its literary artifice and to give ourselves [over] to its rollicking, sometimes whimsical style of myth-making.”

It has been said that readership of the literary novel in Australia has been in decline for years, and some go so far as to suggest that the literary novel is in the throes of death in Australia. Many of the novels shortlisted for the 2006 Miles Franklin Literary Award have all the ingredients that make a novel good: strong narrative arcs, a keen sense of theatre, deft portraiture, and a delight in research that enrich the storylines.

Bibliography
McDONALD Roger [1941-] Novelist, poet. Born Roger Hugh McDonald in Young, New South Wales, Australia. Novels The Ballad of Desmond Kale (2005: winner of the 2006 Miles Franklin Literary Award); Mr Darwin’s Shooter (1998); The Slap (1996); Water Man (1993); Flynn (1992); Rough Wallaby (1989); Melba (1988); Slipstream (1982); 1915 (1979) Poetry Airship (1975); Citizens of Mist (1968) Nonfiction The Tree in Changing Light (2001); Shearers’ Motel (1992); Reflecting Labor: Images of Myth and Origin Over 100 Years (1991); Mike Willesee’s Australians (1988) Edited Gone Bush (1990); The First Paperback Poets Anthology (1974)

Rohinton MISTRY ... Family Matters (2002)

Bibliography
MISTRY Rohinton [1952-] Novelist. Born in Bombay, India. Novels Family Matters (2002: winner of the 2002 Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for Fiction; shortlisted for the 2002 Booker Prize for Fiction and the 2004 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award); A Fine Balance (1995: winner of the 1995 Giller Prize for Fiction, the Royal Society of Literature's Winifred Holtby Prize, and the 1996 Los Angeles Times Award for Fiction; shortlisted for the 1996 Booker Prize for Fiction and the 1997 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award); Such a Long Journey (1991: winner of the 1991 Governor General’s Award for Fiction, the W.H. Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award, the 1992 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book and shortlisted for the 1991 Booker Prize for Fiction) Stories Tales From Firozsha Baag (1987: published in the U.S. in 1989 as Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag)

Recommended
Novels Family Matters (2002); A Fine Balance (1995)
Stories Tales From Firozsha Baag (1987: published in the U.S. in 1989 as Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag)

Cynthia OZICK ... The Din in the Head (2006)

Bibliography
OZICK Cynthia [1928-] Novelist, short-story writer, essayist, critic. Born in the Bronx, New York, U.S. Novels The Bear Boy (published as Heir to the Glimmering World in the U.S. in 2004) (2005); The Puttermesser Papers (1997); The Messiah of Stockholm (1987); The Cannibal Galaxy (1983); Trust (1966) Novellas Bloodshed and Three Novellas (1976) Stories Collected Stories (2006); The Shawl (1989); Levitation: Five Fictions (1982); The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories (1971) Poetry Epodes: First Poems (1992) Essays The Din in the Head (2006); Quarrel and Quandary (2000: winner of the 2000 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism); Portrait of the Artist as a Bad Character and Other Essays on Writing (1996); Fame and Folly (1996: shortlisted for the 1996 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism); What Henry James Knew and Other Essays on Writers (1993); Metaphor and Memory (1989); Art and Ardor (1983) Plays The Shawl (1996); Blue Light (1994)

Edward P. JONES ... All Aunt Hagar's Children (2006)

Bibliography
JONES Edward P. [1950-] Novelist, short-story writer. Born in Washington, D.C., U.S. Novel The Known World (2003: winner of the 2004 National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the 2005 IMPAC Dublin Literature Prize; shortlisted for the 2003 National Book Award for Fiction) Stories All Aunt Hagar’s Children (2006); Lost in the City (1992: shortlisted for the 1992 National Book Award for Fiction)

Recommended
Novel The Known World (2003)
Stories Lost in the City (1992)

Howard JACOBSON ... Kalooki Nights (2006)

Bibliography
JACOBSON Howard [1942-] Novelist. Born in Manchester, England. Novels Kalooki Nights (2006); The Making of Henry (2004); Who’s Sorry Now? (2002: shortlisted for the 2002 Booker Prize for Fiction); The Mighty Walzer (1999: winner of the 2000 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Writing and the 2000 Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Literary Prize for Fiction); No More Mister Nice Guy (1998); The Very Model of a Man (1992); Redback (1986); Peeping Tom (1984); Coming From Behind (1983) Nonfiction Seriously Funny: From the Ridiculous to the Sublime (1997); Roots Schmoots: Journeys Among Jews (1993); Shakespeare’s Magnanimity: Four Tragic Heroes, Their Friends and Families (with Wilbur Sanders) (1978) Travel In the Land of Oz (1987)

Recommended
The Making of Henry (2004)
Who’s Sorry Now? (2002)

Vyvyane LOH ... Breaking the Tongue (2004)

Bibliography
LOH Vyvyane [196X-] Novelist. Born in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. Novel Breaking the Tongue (2004: shortlisted for the 2006 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award)

Philippa STOCKLEY ... A Factory of Cunning (2005)

Bibliography
STOCKLEY Philippa [19XX-] Novelist. Born in England. Novels A Factory of Cunning (2005); The Edge of Pleasure (2002)

PRIZEWINNERS

FEAST your eyes on some of these recent literary prizewinners:

Disobedience (2006: 2006 Orange Prize for New Writers) / Naomi Alderman
The Secret River (2005: 2006 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Novel, 2006 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award/Christina Stead Prize for Fiction) / Kate Grenville
Utterly Monkey (2005: winner of the 2006 Betty Trask Prize for Fiction) / Nick Laird
Saturday (2005: 2005 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction) / Ian McEwan
The Ballad of Desmond Kale (winner of the 2006 Miles Franklin Literary Award) (2005) / Roger McDonald
Out Stealing Horses / (2003; 2005: 2006 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize) / Per Petterson
1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare (2005: winner of the 2006 Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction) / James Shapiro
On Beauty (2005: 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction) / Zadie Smith
The Master (2004: 2006 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; 2004 Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction) / Colm Toibin

Mark HELPRIN

Bibliography
HELPRIN Mark [1947-] Novelist. Born in New York, New York, U.S. Novels Freddy and Fredericka (2005); Memoir from Antproof Case (1995); A Soldier of the Great War (1991); Winter’s Tale (1983); Refiner’s Fire: The Life and Adventures of Marshall Pearl, a Foundling (1977) Stories The Pacific and Other Stories (2004); Ellis Island and Other Stories (1981); A Dove of the East and Other Stories (1975) Children’s Swan Lake (with illustrations by Chris Van Allsburg) (1989); The Veil of Snows (with illustrations by Chris Van Allsburg) (1997); A City in Winter (with illustrations by Chris Van Allsburg) (1996)

Recommended
Novels Memoir from Antproof Case (1995); A Soldier of the Great War (1991); Winter’s Tale (1983)
Stories The Pacific and Other Stories (2004); Ellis Island and Other Stories (1981)

Colm TÓIBÍN wins the 2006 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

IRISH NOVELIST Colm Tóibín is the winner of the 2006 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the world’s most lucrative literary prize for a single work of fiction in English, for his novel, The Master (2005), an exploration of the tortured soul of 19th-century American novelist and critic Henry James. He is the first Irish to win the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

Bibliography
TÓIBÍN Colm [1955-] Novelist, journalist. Born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland. Novels The Master (2004: winner of the 2006 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the 2004 Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction; shortlisted for the 2004 Booker Prize for Fiction); The Blackwater Lightship (1999: shortlisted for the 1999 Booker Prize for Fiction and the 2001 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award); The Story of the Night (1996: 1998 Ferro-Grumley Award); The Heather Blazing (1992: winner of the Encore Award for Best Second Novel); The South (1990: winner of the 1991 Irish Times/Aer Lingus First Novel Prize; shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award) Stories Mothers and Sons (2006) Nonfiction Lady Gregory’s Toothbrush (2002); Love in a Dark Time (2001); The Irish Famine (with Diarmaid Ferriter) (1999); The Trial of the Generals: Selected Journalism, 1980-1990 (1990); Walking Along the Border (1987: republished in 1994 as Bad Blood: A Walk Along the Irish Border); Martyrs and Metaphors (1987) Travel The Sign of the Cross: Travels in Catholic Europe (1994); Homage to Barcelona (1990) Edited The New York Stories of Henry James (2005); Synge: A Celebration (2005); The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction (1999)

2006 PEN/J.R. Ackerley Prize for Literary Autobiography

ALAN BENNETT’s Untold Stories (Faber & Faber) and five other authors have been shortlisted for the 2006 PEN/J.R. Ackerley Prize for Literary Autobiography. The shortlist is as follows:

Dear Austen (Penguin, 2005) / Nina Bawden
Untold Stories (Faber & Faber, 2005) / Alan Bennett
Bertie, May and Mrs Fish (HarperCollins, 2005) / Xandra Bingley
Heartland (Scribner, 2005) / Neil Cross
Nature Cure (Chatto & Windus, 2005) / Richard Mabey
Statues without Shadows (Sceptre, 2005) / Anna Swan

The winner will be announced on July 13, 2006 in London

The Alternate Top 10 List

1. The New York Trilogy [1987: comprising City of Glass (1985); Ghosts (1986); and The Locked Room (1986)] / Paul AUSTER
4. Peace Like a River (2001) / Leif ENGER
5. A Prayer for Owen Meany (1989) / John IRVING
6. Empire Falls (2001) / Richard RUSSO
7. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000) / Michael CHABON
8. Gilead (2004) / Marilynne ROBINSON
9. Nobody’s Fool (1993) / Richard RUSSO
10. Infinite Jest (1996) / David Foster WALLACE