Fiction to look out for in 2019

2018 was a phenomenal year for The Book Edit and City’s short course alumni with highlights being Hannah Begbie's Mother, winner of Joan Hessayon Romantic Novelist’s award, Fern Britton’s first pick for Tesco Book Club, Film rights sold to Clerkenwell Films; Peng Shepherd's The Book of M, Amazon’s best sci-fi books of 2018, The Guardian’s best recent sci-fi 2018, Esquire’s best sci-fi 2018, shortlisted Best Fantasy Good Reads Awards 2018, Amazon’s best 100 books 2018; R.K. Salters' Butterfly Ranch, winner of Rubery award for fiction 2018 and a Chill with a Book award, shortlisted People’s Book Prize 2018...

2019 shows no sign of slowing down. Two to look out for this year: the eagerly anticipated psychological thriller, Blood Orange, debut novel from Harriet Tyce, already listed amongst debuts to watch in The Observer, Cosmopolitan, The Sun, The Sunday Express and The Express;

and Luiza Sauma’s second novel, Everything You Ever Wanted about the modern condition and our ‘age of anxiety’ set on a perfect parallel planet. Both are brilliant writers with big futures and we can’t wait to see their books make their way into the world.

Winners of City Writes Autumn 2018 Competition announced

Photo by Phyllis of bright dots on Unsplash

Delighted to hear the winners of City Writes latest competition announced this week. Joining City tutor Cherry Potts and her Solstice Shorts team on Thursday 13th December will be Meera Betab, Angelita Bradney, Kate Henderson and Debz Hobbs-Wyatt. City Writes founder and judge, Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone, said the competition was ‘really strong’ this term. Having worked with both Meera and Kate, I can vouch for the strength of these winning writers!

City Writes was set up by Rebekah as a way to showcase the fantastic work being produced by both City writing short course alumni and tutors and provide an opportunity to read their work to an invited audience. Each term the winners get to share the stage with one of the published tutors for an evening of readings. This one promises to be suitably festive with musicians accompanying some of the writers’ work. Tickets are £10, which includes wine. Book here now for an alternative Christmas event.

How to manage your time to be more creative

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Many of us would like to be more creative in our lives. But how do we find the time? Acclaimed author and Book Edit associate editor Emma Claire Sweeney is leading an intensive one-day workshop on managing your time at City, University of London this month, drawing on the lessons she has learned as a professional writer and self-employed creative. Areas looked up will include how harness inspiration, carve out time, intensify productivity, build stamina and develop resilience. By clarifying your creativity goals and identifying habits that help and hinder, you’ll devise blueprints for commencing, continuing and completing creative projects to challenging yet achievable deadlines. Highly recommended for all those dreamers and procrastinators out there!

Deepa Anappara

Portrait of author Deepa Anappara

Absolutely thrilled to hear the news that Chatto & Windus have won UK and Commonwealth rights to Deepa Anappara’s debut novel, Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line. The book has now sold in a total of 14 international territories. Deepa was a student on City’s Novel Studio some years ago and has since gone on to do a masters and a Phd in Creative Writing at U.E.A. She’s had an astonishing year already, winning the Bridport Peggy Chapman-Andrews First Novel Award, the Deborah Rogers Award and the Lucy Cavendish Prize. And now this! Congratulations, Deepa. We cannot wait to read this novel!