Kiare Ladner sells debut novel in pre-emptive bid from Picador

Absolutely delighted to hear the news that Novel Studio alumna Kiare Ladner has sold her debut novel. Nightshift, to Picador. Associate publisher Ravi Mirchandani, who acquired world rights to the book, has described it as "an immensely exciting debut, a novel of nights and shifts, between gay and straight, sober and carried away; of how it is possible both to find oneself in the city or to become lost entirely; of obsession and the sheer mysteriousness of ourselves and others”.

Kiare's star has always shone bright. After graduating from City's Novel Studio with flying colours, she secured a place at UEA to do their prestigious MA in Creative Writing and subsequently won the David Higham award for her writing. Her short stories have appeared in Wasafiri, Lightship Anthology 1, New Contrast and Eclectica, and she was recently awarded an HW Fisher scholarship for her place on the Curtis Brown novel-writing course. 

Nightshift will be published in 2019 and we cannot wait to read it. Congratulations, Kiare!

Author of most anticipated UK novel of 2018 is star billing at next City Writes

Very excited to announce that Imogen Hermes Gowar, a former City short course student, will be star billing at the next City Writes event in March. Imogen's debut novel, The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock has been picked as the 'most anticipated book of 2018' by. amongst others, Vogue, Sunday Times, Observer, The Times, Sunday Mirror, Daily Express, BBC Arts, Red Magazine, Stylist, The Pool, Emerald Street, Independent, The Herald, Irish Times, Irish Tatler, The Journal and Irish Independent. The novel sparked a bidding war with ten publishers, a war finally won by Harville Secker for a six figure sum. 

Imogen was inspired with the idea for the novel while working at the British Museum as a Gallery Assistant. In the evenings she attended creative writing classes at City, taking Novel Writing and Longer Works and then Writers’ Workshop, both taught by Katy Darby. She went on to study for an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, for which she received a distinction and won the Curtis Brown award for her year.

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock is due out later this month and has been chosen as Harville Secker’s lead debut fiction title for 2018. Congratulations, Imogen!

Wildfire pre-empts Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce

Harriet Tyce has sold her debut thriller, Blood Orange, to Wildfire. Rights have also been sold in ten other territories. Set to be a ‘major debut launch’, Wildfire have described the novel as ‘a stunning piece of psychological suspense...’ with a ‘spectacularly dark and satisfying ending.’ 

Harriet was a criminal barrister for ten years before starting her writing career. A graduate of the Novel Studio in 2010, she is now part way through the MA in Creative Writing Crime Fiction at UEA, where she received a distinction in her first year. Blood Orange will be published in the UK in January 2019.