#longlist

Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum

Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Barraclough

The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor

A Thousand Threads by Neneh Cherry

The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

Ootlin by Jenni Fagan

Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller

Agent Zo: The Untold Story of Fearless WW2 Resistance Fighter Elżbieta Zawacka by Clare Mulley

By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land by Rebecca Nagle

Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux

What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World’s Ocean by Helen Scales

The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place by Kate Summerscale

Sister in Law: Fighting for Justice in a System Designed by Men by Harriet Wistrich

Tracker by Alexis Wright

I've been following the Women's Prize for Fiction for several years now and I love that they've now launched a prize for non-fiction too. Women are still hugely underrepresented in non-fiction writing, so it's very much needed -not just for the winner but for the fantastic exposure it offers for the whole longlist and non-fiction written by women in general.

The Women's Prize for Non-Fiction is open to non-fiction written by women in English and published in the UK between 1st April of the year before the prize and 31st March of the year of the prize. So, this year's prize was available to books published between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025.

And here is the longlist!

Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum. Published by Allen Lane on 23rd July 2024.

Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Barraclough. Published by Profile Books on 19th September 2024.

The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor. Published by Allen Lane on 3rd October 2024.

A Thousand Threads by Neneh Cherry. Published by Fern Press on 3rd October 2024.

The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke. Published by Abacus on 3rd September 2024.

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. Published by Canongate on 26th September 2024.

Ootlin by Jenni Fagan. Published by Hutchinson Heinemann on 22nd August 2024.

Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Love, Loss and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller. Published by ONE on 10th October 2024.

Agent Zo: The Untold Story of Fearless WW2 Resistance Fighter Elżbieta Zawacka by Clare Mulley. Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson on 16th May 2024.

By The Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight For Justice on Native Land by Rebecca Nagle. Published by William Collins on 12th September 2024.

Wild Thing: A Life of Paul Gauguin by Sue Prideaux. Published by Faber & Faber on 12th September 2024.

What The Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World's Ocean by Helen Scales. Published by Grove Press on 6th June 2024.

The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place by Kate Summerscale. Published by Bloomsbury Circus on 3rd October 2024.

Sister in Law: Fighting for Justice in a System Designed by Men by Harriet Wistrich. Published by Torva on 2nd May 2024.

Tracker by Alexis Wright. Published by And Other Stories on 7th January 2025.

Private Revolutions: Coming of Age in a New China by Yuan Yang. Published by Bloomsbury Circus on 9th May 2024.

It's an amazing mix of topics and I'm pretty confident that it's a longlist with something for everyone. Whether you're a history buff, a nature lover, a memoir reader or a true crime fanatic, there is at least one book here that probably sounds fantastic to you.

For me, Embers of the Hands, Raising Hare, The Peepshow and Private Revolutions are standouts in terms of what I think I'd love. I haven't read any of them and The Peepshow is the only one I own. I have requested the other three that I'm particularly interested in from the library but Raising Hare has 12 reservations on just three copies, so it's unlikely I'll get my hands on that any time soon!

As someone who isn't a huge non-fiction reader, I'm so grateful to the Women's Prize for encouraging me to read more of it through this prize. Last year, I loved Wifedom by Anna Funder and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have heard of it without the longlist, so I'm on the lookout for another hidden gem to find its way to me this year!

What do you think of the longlist? Have you read any of them? Do you want to? Let me know!

Last week, the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) released their longlist of nominees for the BSFA Awards, for work published in 2023. Embroidered Worlds: Fantastic Fiction from Ukraine and the Diaspora was among those listed for Best Collections! I am honored that we were included; I'm also so excited to see Ukrainian fiction on a list like this.

When I was a young reader in the 80s and 90s, I dreamed of such an opportunity; and I am heartened to know that readers are enjoying and discussing these stories by writers in Ukraine and the Diaspora.

There are so many thoughtful collections and fantastic stories on this list, and I encourage you to take a look. Congratulations to my incredible co-editors, Olha Brylova & Iryna Pasko and to all the nominees!

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- Michael likes sour candy

- Surprisingly Trevor loves the color pink

- Dave probably has tried to be youthful by saying “slangs’ but Steve has shut that down pretty fast

- Wade hates cats

-Franklin could honestly live without a big house, as long as he has a Wii, he’s fine

- Patricia of course loves Trevor, but she started the affair to try and feel rambunctious like her husband and son

-Amanda hates her past not only because it’s not who she wanted to be, but because in some ways it was actually fun and she hates being a hypocrite

-Lamar would definitely like Tracey

-Steve is actually verry family oriented and there is a part of him that’s upset he never ‘settled’ 

-Michael, despite how much he nags on Jimmy, is somewhat happy he avoids following in his footsteps

-Trevor actually makes an excellent life coach and makes pretty good money, but he keeps the trailer

-Out of the three, Franklin is probably the only one who could easily give up drugs and move onto another occupation 

-Tracey loves kids and babysits

- Lester’s favorite gang member is actually Franklin. Franklin makes him feel younger and with Michael and Trevor Lester feels trapped in a certain time where he wasn’t happiest

And Lately, The Sun - Anthology

Bushland is burning. The Arctic is shedding ice. And around the world, people are imagining futures which function. 

Gritty, graceful, commonsense or whimsical, these twenty tales probe at how we could build a working world using the resources available to us – the natural, the social, the political, and the technological.

Some of these stories invite readers to bask in the warmth of a bright tomorrow, from tree dwellings in India, to restoration projects in Milano, to rewilded suburbs in the East of Australia. Other stories burn with spirit in the face of adversity: smallholders in Botswana adjust to international treaties; gamers tackle reality using virtual tools. And there are shadows, too, in tech suburbs where you can buy eco-cigarettes, or on tree plantations where family members won’t toe the line.

Excited to share that the story ‘In the Storm, A Fire’ by admin @thejaymo​ and solarpunks.net regular Andrew Dana Hudson has been nominated for the BSFA Award Longlist for short fiction!

In the Storm, A Fire

A story that contrasts Solarpunk’s vision of beautiful, dirty, solidaritistic, environmentalism/climate survival with ecofascist unsolutions.

Its packed full of ideas about cyberpunk interfaces, generational politics, high-tech policing, religious schisms, snapchat demagogues. Permaculture retrosuburbia, communities of resistance forced to play power politics with fash gangs in order to survive.

Get the book here!

Smashwords (70% off through to Feb 6th 2020 using code QY58K ) (BSFA Long List Promotion) Amazon (kindle) Barnes and Noble Kobo Apple

I HAVE HEADCANONS FOR BOTH CANON TOBY AND FANDOM (FANON) TOBY

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Canon:

Can not sweat. CIPA means Congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis.

^ Which means if he gets too warm, he can possibly die of heat stroke or suffer from seizures.

 He has 3 VERY SMALL bald spots on the back of his head.

^bc of this, he grew his hair out a bit to cover them up. He’s insecure about them :(

fluffy hair :)

his height is around 6′1. Weight around 143?

More antisocial and bipolar, can also be destructive

has a short attention span

yes, this man can smile

his goggles are constantly being repaired

has a tic that affects his eyesight (effects?? idk)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fanon:

Can sweat, but still doesn’t feel pain

around 5′5. quite skinny

fluffy, short-ish hair

fidgety

constantly distracted

more happy-go-lucky

can feel temperature 

ticklish 

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They Both:

CANNOT FEEL PAAAAINNNNNNN

have timed bathroom breaks

have meals at specific times (he can’t feel hunger pains)

have a baby blanket that lyra used to swaddle him in 

^ (Fanon sometimes has it in his arms or wraps himself in it for comfort) (Canon hides it wherever he lives)

will not admit they like hugs.