Martin Pettit
Until the branch of Waterstone’s near me drops the apostrophe from its shop front I shall continue to use it. When googling for more information on this story it asked me if I "meant Waterstone’s". Oh Google. Yes I did.
However, let us not mourn the apostrophe in Waterstone’s. Instead, after the disappointment of the Baftas Rising Star shortlist, and the disastrous BBC Sports Personality of the year, we can celebrate one shortlist that women are dominating, the Waterstone’s 11.
The Waterstone’s 11 list celebrates the debut authors expected to dominate the literary world with their debut novels. The select few will have their books promoted in all branches of Waterstone’s.
However, let us not mourn the apostrophe in Waterstone’s. Instead, after the disappointment of the Baftas Rising Star shortlist, and the disastrous BBC Sports Personality of the year, we can celebrate one shortlist that women are dominating, the Waterstone’s 11.
The Waterstone’s 11 list celebrates the debut authors expected to dominate the literary world with their debut novels. The select few will have their books promoted in all branches of Waterstone’s.
Out of the 11 writers featured in the Waterstone’s 11, 8 are women. Prompting Janine Cook, chair of the Waterstone’s 11 selection committee, to wonder: “Is this a golden age of female writing? The presence of eight female writers out of 11 on our list might indicate so.”
Granted, this is a list women have not managed to completely take over, in the style of the exclusively male Bafta Rising Star shortlist, or the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. It does arguably demonstrate the positive effect the Orange Prize for Fiction could be having on would be women authors.
The managing director of Waterstones, James Daunt commented on the exceptionally high standard of the novels this year, "It is hard to believe these are debut novels, so assured and alive is the writing."
The full list of the Waterstone’s 11 is here:
Jenni Fagan - The Panopticon
Patrick Falnery - Absolution
Frances Greenslade - Shelter
Chad Harbach - The Art of Fielding
Eowyn Ivey - The Snow Child
Rachel Joyce - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Grace McCleen - The Land of Decoration
Anna Raverat - Signs of Life
Charlotte Rogan - The Lifeboat
Karen Thompson Walker - The Age of Miracles
Will Wiles - Care of Wooden Floors
Kate
Granted, this is a list women have not managed to completely take over, in the style of the exclusively male Bafta Rising Star shortlist, or the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. It does arguably demonstrate the positive effect the Orange Prize for Fiction could be having on would be women authors.
The managing director of Waterstones, James Daunt commented on the exceptionally high standard of the novels this year, "It is hard to believe these are debut novels, so assured and alive is the writing."
The full list of the Waterstone’s 11 is here:
Jenni Fagan - The Panopticon
Patrick Falnery - Absolution
Frances Greenslade - Shelter
Chad Harbach - The Art of Fielding
Eowyn Ivey - The Snow Child
Rachel Joyce - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Grace McCleen - The Land of Decoration
Anna Raverat - Signs of Life
Charlotte Rogan - The Lifeboat
Karen Thompson Walker - The Age of Miracles
Will Wiles - Care of Wooden Floors
Kate
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