{"title":"Prize nominations","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"i-hear-you-9781784633448","title":"I Hear You","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSeries\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eName:\u003c\/strong\u003e Salt Modern Stories   \u003cstrong\u003eNumber:\u003c\/strong\u003e 14\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for The Polari Prize 2026\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/polari2026.png?v=1791321361\" alt=\"Polari Prize\" style=\"width:160px; float: right;\" id=\"no-shadow\"\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIrish Times: Books to Look Out for in 2025\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis collection of stories, written especially for BBC Radio 4, includes a ten-part sequence: ‘The Circus’, set around Cliftonville Circus, where five roads meet in North Belfast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt’s five minutes from the nationalist Troubles flashpoint of Ardoyne, where Paul grew up. It’s close to Holy Cross Girls’ School, where protests targeting primary school children drew international attention. The Circus is situated in the poorest part of Belfast – it is also the most divided.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach road leads to a different area – a different class – a different religion. The Circus explores where old Belfast clashes with the new around acceptance, change, class and diversity. But this is 2024 and a fresh energy exists.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOther stories include ‘Tickles’, a story about a man visiting his mother in a dementia ward where he finds he is the one who had forgotten important things; ‘Cuckoo’, about a man’s collapse and surgery – where he feels something more sinister has happened to him; and ‘Daddy Christmas’, where a gay man writes a letter to the son he never had.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘These moving short stories are brave, honest, raw and funny, doing what fiction does best, showing us the lives of others and in so doing showing us ourselves. Wonderful.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eKit de Waal\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘From a son paring the bunions on his mother’s feet to a man’s soul getting sealed out of his body, and culminating in a deft interlinked cycle, the stories of \u003ccite\u003eI Hear You\u003c\/cite\u003e are warm, frank and unsentimental, bursting with character and idiosyncratic detail, written with Paul McVeigh’s characteristic geniality and Belfast wit.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLucy Caldwell\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Each story is told from the point of view of a different character and they vary in age, sex and sexuality, from schoolgirls to drag queens, cleaners to abused wives and even a character peaking in English as their second language. McVeigh differentiates his characters with ease and skill, using language, style and structure to make each voice individual, distinctive and ultimately believable.’ —\u003ccite\u003e746 Books\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘McVeigh has an enviable ability to create an immediately recognisable character from a quick glance and drawing out the relationships of disparate characters from the common situations that has shaped them. While each individual story can seem like a sketch, there is an overarching plot as the events of the talent competition unravel some relationships and force others into the open. Linking the stories further, there is the common theme: the ability to create one’s own family out of friendship when their own families let them down. No-one will close I Hear You without the life-affirming feeling that there are possibilities in every life.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJames Doyle\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eBookmunch\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Paul McVeigh’s writing has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to working-class and queer representation, and this sustained energy flows through this collection, to illuminating effect – for this is a world of change, of openness, of the drunkenness of things being various.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eNeil Hegarty\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The collection includes a series of ten interlinked stories called ‘The Circus’ which introduce a colourful selection of characters from the north Belfast streets, whose varied lives intersect thanks to a local talent competition. Their stories are told with McVeigh’s trademark warmth, wit and humour.’ —\u003ccite\u003eRTÉ Arena\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘How moving and stunning that story is. It's so raw and incredibly human.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJess Richards\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Funny, moving, poignant. Brilliant.’ —\u003ccite\u003eMetro\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A pearl of quality … highly original … haunting … superior.’ —\u003ccite\u003eThe Irish Times\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A highly commendable debut, convincing in its realism.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eLesley McDowell\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘His depiction of the time and place – collecting for the black babies, roller discos up the Falls – and the peculiarities of NI vernacular – gazing at girls’ diddies, hoping for a lumber – is transportingly vivid. The effect is often very funny and then touching; the injustice of a line spent half in fear, the pleasure of a life lived half in laughter.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eJane Graham\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Big Issue\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The summer holidays are a time of dread for Mickey Donnelly. Secondary education is looming, but the prohibitive cost of the grammar school uniform has deprived him of his best chance to escape from Belfast’s turbulent Ardoyne neighbourhood. This isn’t the only cloud hanging over the delightful narrator of Paul McVeigh’s debut novel, however: \u003ccite\u003eThe Good Son\u003c\/cite\u003e’s early-80s backdrop is one of poverty, paranoia and violence, both sectarian and domestic, a terrifying world for a boy whose best friend is his little sister and whose favourite film is \u003ccite\u003eThe Wizard of Oz.\u003c\/cite\u003e’ —\u003cstrong\u003eVictoria Segal\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Paul McVeigh","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49402530857260,"sku":"9781784633448","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784633448polari.jpg?v=1791321390"},{"product_id":"smelling-of-rooks-9781784634056","title":"Smelling of Rooks","description":"\u003ch3\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFrom the author of \u003ccite\u003eCaptain Corelli’s Mandolin\u003c\/cite\u003e comes a candid and irresistibly companionable portrait of a writer’s life in rural Norfolk.\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/TPBP_2027_NON-FICTION_finalist_badge-sticker.png?v=1791319896\" style=\"width: 150px; float: right;\" id=\"no-shadow\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"drop-cap\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"drop-cap-opener\"\u003eFrom the author\u003c\/span\u003e of \u003ccite\u003eCaptain Corelli’s Mandolin\u003c\/cite\u003e comes a candid, comic and irresistibly companionable portrait of a writer’s life in rural Norfolk.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDrawn from Louis de Bernières’s hugely popular Facebook posts written between 2015 and 2024, \u003ccite\u003eSmelling of Rooks\u003c\/cite\u003e gathers a decade of reflections, anecdotes and observations on everything from music, cats and motorcycles to politics, parenting and the perils of social media. It is a book about the texture of ordinary days, told with the warmth, eccentricity and mischief that have made de Bernières one of Britain’s most beloved storytellers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet against the rolling fields and modest peaks of what he calls the ‘Norfolk Alps’, this accidental memoir captures a writer at ease with his life, his readers and his absurdities. There are riffs on the pleasures of cooking and DIY, portraits of friends and neighbours, the escapades of his children, and the unpredictable joys of country living.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt once funny, tender and defiantly unfiltered, \u003ccite\u003eSmelling of Rooks\u003c\/cite\u003e shows Louis de Bernières as he really is – reflective, unpretentious and gloriously human. A celebration of family, friendship and the small wonders of daily life, it is a book to dip into, laugh with, and treasure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eReviews of This Book\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘It really is a delightful, funny, warm-hearted read.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eChristopher Hart\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘De Bernières’s pick’n’mix is dense with domestic insights, motorbike journeys, cats, health challenges, music and quite a lot of bumping into famous people … \u003ccite\u003eSmelling of Rooks\u003c\/cite\u003e is a classic wood-burner page-turner.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eTamasin Doe\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Standard\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Previous Work\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eLight Over Liskeard\u003c\/cite\u003e) Marked by de Bernières’ customary light touch and wry humour … This quirky novel is timely … a feelgood story about friendship and love – vintage de Bernières.’ —\u003ccite\u003eDaily Mirror\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eLight Over Liskeard\u003c\/cite\u003e) Beguiling … Set in a jollier dystopia than the norm, it tells the tale of “Q”, a cryptographer who takes refuge from the madding crowd in Cornwall.’ —\u003ccite\u003eObserver\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eLight Over Liskeard\u003c\/cite\u003e) A knockabout satire with twists aplenty.’ —\u003ccite\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Autumn of the Ace\u003c\/cite\u003e) Penned with de Bernières’s quiet, deprecating humour and sharp observation.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eVanessa Berridge\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eSunday Express\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eThe Autumn of the Ace\u003c\/cite\u003e) Louis de Bernières is in the direct line that runs through Dickens and Evelyn Waugh … he has only to look into his world, one senses, for it to rush into reality, colours and touch and taste.’ —\u003ccite\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSo Much Left Over\u003c\/cite\u003e) A wonderful … vividly peopled novel … de Bernières is a generous storyteller.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eViolet Hudson\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSo Much Left Over\u003c\/cite\u003e) This tragicomic romp has a winning glint in its eye, delivering oodles of Downton-esque entertainment as it portrays a changing Britain poised uneasily on the brink of modernity.’ —\u003ccite\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘(On \u003ccite\u003eSo Much Left Over\u003c\/cite\u003e) Richly enjoyable it is written with such vitality … I would guess that many readers, once they have launched themselves into it, will read it straight through.’ —\u003cstrong\u003eAllan Massie\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003ccite\u003eThe Scotsman\u003c\/cite\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Louis de Bernières","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":55894216769915,"sku":"9781784634056","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0851\/7222\/files\/9781784634056-tpbp.jpg?v=1791319851"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.saltpublishing.com\/collections\/prize-nominations.oembed","provider":"Salt","version":"1.0","type":"link"}