Blakemore and Taylor longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 2022

Congratulations to A K Blakemore and Joelle Taylor, both longlisted for this year's prestigious RSL Ondaatje Prize. 

The annual award goes to an outstanding work of fiction, non-fiction, or poetry that best evokes the spirit of a place. 

A K Blakemore's novel THE MANNINGTREE WITCHES (Granta) conjures up the puritanical fervour which grips the town of Manningtree, Essex, when - in 1643 - the Witchfinder General, with bladed questions and damning accusations, opens up a world of mistrust and unease into the lives of the women who live here. A dazzling novel which evokes the tainted spirit of England's vicious past. 

Joelle Taylor's T.S.Eliot Award winning poetry collection, C+NTO & OTHERED POEMS (Saqi Books) uncovers the underground clubs of butch counterculture in the '90's, spaces which held the difficult balance between survival and self-expression. With elements of history, magic, rebellion, party and sermon vibrating throughout, Taylor celebrates communities forged by women. 

Fantastic recognition for two exceptional books published in 2021.