YA listing

Could not be more stoked to have the news that the YA novel I wrote over lockdown last year made the long-list of 12 out of over a hundred entries for the Michael Gifkins Unpublished Novel Competition. It's my second time in this position, having also had Some Things the English, the novel that placed second in the Dundee International Book Prize, in the long-list in the inaugural comp.

Some things

Some Things the English made the longlist of the Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Novel!

"This was the inaugural year for this prize and we received 182 applications. We congratulate you on achieving the longlist for this prize. The selectors commented that: ‘the selection revealed an extraordinary diversity of writing and an enviable depth of talent. It was a difficult process to arrive at our shortlist of three novels.’"

Stoked

Short list

Some Things the English made the Cinnamon Press Novel Competition shortlist;
I couldn't be happier;
sincere thanks to Jan Fortune and all at Cinnamon Press;
and massive congratulations to overall winner Jennifer Young!

Et al knowing

There's currently a really interesting and important display on level 2 of Auckland Central City Library, giving a detailed and engaging summary of Aotearoa/New Zealand's contraception history and abortion debate.

It's a subject area I covered in my Dundee International Book Prize finalist novel Some Things the English, so I was very interested to read about the developments, and lack of them, in the law and archives.

I was pleased to see the reproduction of some of the Broadsheet magazine illustrations, having only become aware of this amazing and influential publication during my co-editorship on the Three Words Aotearoa/NZ women's comics and cartoons anthology (to be published by Beatnik very soon).

There's also an accompanying blog - the most comprehensive and readable research resource I've seen on this topic - at Auckland Libraries' Heritage & Research site "Heritage et AL".

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Fun thing: part two

Having found our bearings, Fox and I ventured inland to explore the beautiful city that is Dundee.

 Who's the man leading the kids through the centre of town? Could it be the Bash Street Flasher?

It's only Desperate Dan marching past Caird Hall. Still, best to remain at the rear, just in case.

Then it was time for morning tea and lemon drizzle muffin at the Folk Cafe, thanks to Fox, followed by a snout through the second hand stores - oh, the delightful smell of fusty books! - before lunch, also courtesy of Fox, who also brought me shortbread and generally kept me well fed and in fine company until I went to hear Kevin Barry read.

Barry is a consummate performer and he read with great flair as I nervously sketched him because I was too shy to take a photograph and risk my camera making inappropriate noises. Imagine being the cause of Kevin Barry's embarrassment. Actually, you needn't imagine; let me describe it for you.

Here is Barry, dutifully and effectionately signing copies of his books - yes, plural, the man has multiples of proofs of his talents.

You wait in line only to realise you haven't your copy of his short story collection on you then dash to buy one and return, queueing long enough to appreciate the logo on the tablecloth. He seems affable, gregarious, though a tad more shy than when he was reading to a packed room. Strange, you think, there's only you left in the queue. Then what do you do? 

Do you ask him about depictions of patriarchy in his fictions and if he consciously and deliberately champions flawed women via the narrative voices of men who at first seem bent on scorning them? No. 

You rip a sketch from your day book and stuff it at his face, muttering something like:

"This is you."

And you don't win the Dundee International Book Prize, but you've got the biggest smile on your face at the gala dinner....

Perhaps I was smiling because Amy Mason was lovely, or because Stuart Kelly and Cargo Publishing said wonderful things about my novel and my reading, perhaps it was because one of my readings was broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland, or perhaps I was smiling because I had the honour of Jenny Brown's company at the dinner table.

....which is probably a good point to shut your trap.

But just before I do shut up, I'd like to thank Literary Dundee and the NZ Book Council once more for making my trip to the Dundee Literary Festival possible. I'd also like to thank everyone I met at teh gala dinner for your hospitality and warmth, and for al the encouraging and lovely things you each said about my novel. Thank you.

Tim to go

Last week, I participated in the first part of the NZ Book Council's Graphic Novelist Exchange Residency in conjunction with the NZ Publishers Association and the Taipei Book fair, at which New Zealand is guest of honour in 2015.

I'll be posting from my journal about the experience, so won't go into too much detail just now as I'm about to head off to Dundee for the International Book Prize gala dinner and prize giving, but I'll leave you with a taster of the residency from Tim Gibson, who, along with Ant Sang, made up the NZ contingent of the residency at Vaughan Park and was invited to talk about it on National Radio.

Fine list

I am overjoyed and (unusually!) lost for words to discover my unpublished novel Some Things the English is a finalist in the Dundee International Book Prize, which is to say I am in the top two - many thanks to the judges, "Radio 4 presenter Kirsty Lang, creative writer Neil Gaiman, publisher Scott Pack, literary agent Felicity Blunt and writer, critic, reviewer and programmer Stuart Kelly" and Director Anna Day! 

The opening chapter to my novel and the others shortlisted - a fine list - can be downloaded and read for free on Kindle from Amazon.

Dundee international book prize

I made the shortlist of the Dundee International Book Prize with my novel Some Things the English. I am beyond stoked.

Congratulations to my fellow shortlistees:

Sheena Lambert, Amy Mason, Veronica Birch, Rosaliene Bacchus, Jasper Dorgan, Suzy Norman, Robin Martin, Lora Hughes, and Ben East.
 
The judges for this year's prize are Kirsty Lang, Neil Gaiman, Scott Pack, Felicity Blunt and Stuart Kelly. They've now got the task of whittling the shortlist down to the final three.

Many thanks to Literary Dundee director, Anna Day. 

Best of luck to us all!