Olivia Laing and Charlie Porter novels on Blackwells and Foyles ‘Books of the Year’ shortlists

Olivia Laing’s The Silver Book, which is published in the UK (Hamish Hamilton), US (Farrar Straus & Giroux) and Italy (Il Saggiatore) next week, has been shortlisted for Blackwell’s ‘Book of the Year’.

It is great to see the novel (which you can pre-order here) be shortlisted even before publication. Look out for all the upcoming The Silver Book events and coverage, including Olivia’s piece in the Guardian on Saturday 1 November to mark the anniversary of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s murder on 2 November 1975. (On which subject, Donlon Booksin London’s Broadway Market has devoted its window to Pasolini.)

Meanwhile, Charlie Porter’s debut novel Nova Scotia House is one of five books to be shortlisted for Foyles ‘Fiction Book of the Year’, a wonderful companion to his Goldsmith’s Prize shortlisting.

The Goldsmith’s Prize will be announced on 5 November. There has been a great series of interviews with the shortlisted authors in the New Statesman, and you can read them all, including Charlie’s interview with George Monaghan here. This interview with Charlie by Hilton Als in Interview magazine is also a treat.