The Rathbones Folio Prize 2018 Shortlist, judged by Jim Crace, Nikesh Shukla, and Kate Summerscale, is as follows:
Anything Is Possible – Elizabeth Strout (Viking)
Conversations With Friends – Sally Rooney (Faber)
Exit West – Mohsin Hamid (Hamish Hamilton)
Ghosts of the Tsunami – Richard Lloyd Parry (Jonathan Cape)
Once Upon A Time In The East: A Story of Growing Up – Xiaolu Guo (Chatto & Windus)
Reservoir 13 – Jon McGregor (4th Estate)
The Day That Went Missing – Richard Beard (Harvill Secker)
White Tears – Hari Kunzru (Hamish Hamilton)
Three of today’s finest novelists, 2017 Costa Novel award winner JonMcGregor, Mohsin Hamid and Hari Kunzru, were found to be writing at the top of their game by the jury, which is drawn exclusively from the Folio Academy of writers.They are joined by Sally Rooney, one of the most exciting new voices to emerge last year, who has risen meteorically since winning the 2017 Sunday Times/PFD Young Writer of the Year Award, and the celebrated American novelist Elizabeth Strout. Richard Lloyd Parry’s definitive book on the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, Richard Beard’s memoir of exceptional power about loss, carrying on, and recovering a brother’s life, and Xiaolu Guo’s acutely observed account of growing up in China, each, in very different ways, triumphantly affirm the unique role creative non-fiction plays in making sense of our complex world.
Announcing the shortlist, the 2018 judges Kate Summerscale, Nikesh Shukla and Jim Crace said:
“We were startled and delighted that so many valuable and rewarding books could be published in a single year. We read a fantastic array of fiction and non-fiction, poetry and prose, and all eighty titles nominated by the Academy were genuine contenders.
“The eight books we’ve finally chosen are very different from one another, and they’re all wonderful. Overall, the experience has left us optimistic about the current good health and fine spirit of books in the English-writing and English-reading world.”
The world’s largest English language publisher, Penguin Random House, dominates with six titles,
while independent publisher Faber and the Harper Collins’ imprint 4th Estate have one title each. The shortlisted books are now in the running for the overall prize, which will be awarded at a ceremony at the British Library in London on 8 May 2018. They were chosen from a list of 80 works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, which the Folio Academy deemed to be the best published in the UK in 2017.
Andrew Kidd, Co-founder of the Rathbones Folio Prize, said:
“In what was an especially strong year across all forms, Kate, Nikesh and Jim have arrived at an irresistible shortlist. It reflects the international range that is this prize’s DNA, while also confirming that British fiction and non-fiction is in great shape.”
Philip Howell, CEO of Rathbones, said:
“The 2018 shortlist for the Rathbones Folio Prize comprises a splendid array of fiction and non-fiction. Its quality underscores our aim to bring a diverse range of outstanding writing to readers’ attention, and is one part of a broader ambition to engage people in the unique power of books to enrich lives. Our congratulations go to the eight shortlisted authors and we look forward to the announcement of a winner on 8 May.”
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