Fuller wins Desmond Elliott Prize

2 July 2015 Books+Publishing

In the UK, Claire Fuller’s Our Endless Numbered Days (Penguin) has won the £10,000 (A$20,438) Desmond Elliott Prize for new fiction. Fuller’s debut novel was chosen from a shortlist that also included Emma Healey’s Elizabeth is Missing (Penguin) and Carys Bray’s A Song for Issy Bradley (Hutchinson). Chair of judges Louise Doughty described the book as ‘a poised and elegant work’, comparing it to the early work of Ian McEwan ‘in the delicacy of its prose and the way that this is combined with some very dark undertones’. Doughty also called for sustained support from publishers for newer authors, asking publishers to avoid ‘short-termism’ and ‘commit to its authors for the long-haul’. ‘I fully expect to see Claire Fuller, Emma Healey and Carys Bray on prize shortlists, bestseller lists and in the literary pages of our newspapers for years to come and if they aren’t, we should be asking why,’ said Doughty. For more information on the prize, visit the website here.

Category: International news