@ThePortico #PorticoPrize “…Vividly evokes a period in recent history with themes that carry clear, if painful echoes, to today” Gary Younge, Chair of Judges 20.15: Thursday 20 January, MANCHESTER: Sally J Morgan has won The Portico Prize for Literature for her debut novel Toto Among the Murderers. Mostly set in Leeds and Sheffield in 1973, Toto Among the Murderers – published by J M Originals / Hachette –follows the story of Toto and her friends as they begin life after college, a time when the lives of women were overshadowed by the constant threat of sexual violence. The book is based on the author’s own experience of being offered a lift by the infamous murderers Fred and Rosemary West. Morgan, who grew up in Yorkshire, and now lives and works in Wellington, New Zealand, will receive £10,000 for winning the Portico Prize, the UK’s only award for outstanding writing that best evokes the ‘spirit of the North of England’. The announcement was made at an online ceremony hosted by broadcaster and presenter Simon Savidge at the Portico Library in Manchester. Commenting on behalf of the jury, Chair of Judges Gary Younge, the award-winning author, broadcaster and a Professor of Sociology […]

List features five novels, one memoir, four debuts Jenn Ashworth; James Corbett; Sairish Hussain; Tabitha Lasley; Sally J. Morgan; Andrew O’Hagan “The list illustrates the degree to which there is not one North but many, rooted not just in place but time, gender, race and religion: all moulded into elegant prose and conveyed with engaging storytelling.” Gary Younge, Chair of Judges The shortlist for The Portico Prize for Literature – the UK’s only award for outstanding Northern writing – is announced today, Tuesday 7 December. The six books on the shortlist for the £10,000 prize include five novels and one memoir, with exciting new voices sitting alongside established writers, each one exploring ‘the spirit of the North’. The 2022 shortlist, in alphabetical order by author, is: Ghosted by Jenn Ashworth (Sceptre / Hachette) Fiction The Outsiders by James Corbett (Lightning Books / Eye Books) Fiction The Family Tree by Sairish Hussain (HQ / HarperCollins) Fiction Sea State by Tabitha Lasley (4th Estate / HarperCollins) Non-fiction Toto Among the Murderers by Sally J. Morgan (J M Originals / Hachette) Fiction Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan (Faber) Fiction Contending for the Prize are three exceptional debut novels. The author and journalist James Corbett is shortlisted for his first novel The […]

A fresh account of imperial history told from the perspective of the peoples of the global South Cambridge historian Sujit Sivasundaram praised for “spellbinding” work of ingenuity and meticulous research #BritishAcademyBookPrize @BritishAcademy_  17.30h BST Tuesday 26 October, LONDON: Waves Across the South: A New History of Revolution and Empire by Cambridge historian Sujit Sivasundaramis today named as the winner of the 9th British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding. The announcement was made by Chair of the jury, Patrick Wright FBA, during an online celebration hosted by the British Academy.  In Waves Across the South, Sujit Sivasundaram – Professor of World History at the University of Cambridge – re-imagines the history of the British Empire with the southern seas at the heart of the story. The history of the Empire is commonly centred around Europe and the Atlantic, yet in this highly original work Sivasundaram invites the reader to consider what this history looks like from the perspective of indigenous peoples in the Indian and Pacific oceans, showing how they asserted their place in the global South as the British Empire expanded. Sivasundaram, who was born and educated in Sri Lanka, brings together a wealth of archival material to recover an extraordinary collection of stories – from Māori mapmakers and the Parsi […]

Eight debuts across list of 14 books The longlist for The Portico Prize for Literature – the UK’s only award for outstanding Northern writing – is announced today, Tuesday 28 September, 2021. The £10,000 biennial prize is open to new works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry that best evoke the spirit of the North of England. This year’s longlist of 14 books explores multiple themes – family, friendship, class, race, identity, masculinity, sexuality, the meaning of place and memories of the past – all connected by the spirit of the North.  Debut writers and independent publishers emerge triumphant from the lockdown of the past year, reflected in strong representation across the list. The 2022 longlist, in alphabetical order by author surname, is: Ghosted by Jenn Ashworth (Sceptre / Hachette) Fiction The Outsiders by James Corbett (Lightning Books / Eye Books) Fiction The Blind Light by Stuart Evers (Picador / Pan Macmillan) Fiction Mrs England by Stacey Halls (Manilla Press / Bonnier Books) Fiction The Family Tree by Sairish Hussain (HQ / HarperCollins) Fiction Sea State by Tabitha Lasley (4th Estate / HarperCollins) Non-fiction Are We Home Yet? by Katy Massey (Jacaranda Books) Non-fiction The Khan by Saima Mir (Oneworld Publications) Fiction Toto Among the Murderers by Sally J. […]

The British Academy’s £25,000 international non-fiction book prize Global shortlist of four exceptional writers exploring: the impact of revolution and empire on the global South the modern colonial nation and its part in the creation of permanent minorities racism in America as viewed through the works and example of James Baldwin the increasingly global experience of living in abandoned and ‘post-human’ places. Winner announced Tuesday 26 October London: Today, Tuesday 7 September, the British Academy reveals the shortlist for the ninth British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding (2021). The international book prize, worth £25,000, rewards and celebrates the best works of non-fiction that have contributed to public understanding of world cultures. This year’s shortlist introduces readers to four books on urgent and globally significant topics. The selected titles explore racism in America (approached through the example of the writer James Baldwin), the role of the modern colonial nation-state in the creation of ‘permanent minorities’ around the world, the legacies of revolution and empire when viewed from the ‘small seas’ of the global South, and life in the ‘blighted post-human’ landscapes of a deteriorated planet. The four books on the 2021 shortlist, alphabetically by author surname, are: Islands of […]

£10,000 award for outstanding Northern writing Judges are Sarah Hall, Momtaza Mehri, Melanie Sykes, Anita Singh and Gary Younge Deadline for submissions: 31 July 2021 The Portico Library in Manchester is pleased to announce the panel of judges for the Portico Prize for Literature, as it opens for entries today, Tuesday 8 June 2021. The biennial prize is the UK’s only award for outstanding Northern writing which is open to new works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry that best evokes the spirit of the North of England. Eligible books will have a central theme or subject that engages with some aspect of the North, whether through place, character or sensibility. On the judging panel are leading figures from the worlds of literature, the media and academia, who all have an association with the North of England. They are: the award-winning author and former Portico Prize winner Sarah Hall; the poet and essayist and former Young People’s Laureate for London Momtaza Mehri; Anita Singh, arts and entertainment editor at The Daily Telegraph; the broadcaster Melanie Sykes, (also Editor-in-Chief of The Frank Magazine and co-presenter of the Sykes & Savidge Book Club), and the journalist, author, broadcaster and academic Gary Younge. The […]

By Tetiana Michaels Publication date: 22 April 2021 “The tender story of a woman who feels that in converting to Judaism, she is coming home. A love letter about family, faith and osher – happiness” Sherri Mandell, award-winning author Osher, the Hebrew word for ‘joy, fortunate, blessing’, is the truthful, moving story of Tetiana Michaels’ search for truth and meaning and a journey into a new and welcoming faith. Tetiana Michaels was born into a loving Orthodox Christian family in Ukraine. A stellar legal career led her to practising in Ukraine, England and Switzerland. Yet, despite all going so well in her career and relationships, she felt as if something were missing. Meeting the man who was to become her husband – the son of a Rabbi – opened her eyes to the Jewish faith. She found herself drawn to the rituals, to the ancient texts and, strangely, to the sense of a connection to her own past. Could this be the spiritual path that she had been looking for? Tetiana was faced with many questions from curious friends, colleagues and family when talking of her conversion to Judaism, and in seeking to find those answers she came to examine […]

25-28 February 2021 An online festival of Georgian writers from the Caucasus, with music and food, inspired by the café culture of the first democratic republic of 1918-21 Festival marks centenary of Soviet invasion of Georgia and 30th anniversary of independence Katie Melua to open festival with specially recorded song in Georgian Following the Russian revolution of 1917, the Republic of Georgia experienced brief independence from imperial rule, fuelling a starburst of new writing and art. Its capital in the southern Caucasus mountains became a haven for exiles fleeing the collapsing Tsarist empire – including Doctor Zhivago author Boris Pasternak. Avant-garde Modernists thrived in Tbilisi’s café culture. But Europe’s first national experiment in democratic socialism was crushed after only 1,028 days when the Red Army invaded Georgia. The republic was annexed by the Soviet Union on 25 February 1921. On the centenary of the February invasion, and the 30th anniversary of the restoration of independence in 1991, the festival’s Artistic Director, Maya Jaggi, and Writers’ House of Georgia present four days of online events in Georgia’s Fantastic Tavern: Where Europe Meets Asia, a virtual writers’ festival with an element of music and food, in partnership with the British Library in […]

Barchester Towers voted world’s favourite Anthony Trollope novel. Fans of Anthony Trollope have voted Barchester Towers their favourite novel in a campaign by the Trollope Society to encourage more readers worldwide to “Pick-Up-A-Trollope”.