Alex Wheatle won the 50th Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. He received the award, which comes with a cash prize of £1,500, for his novel Crongton Knights, his second book of a planned trilogy set on a fictional London estate. SF Said commented: ‘Wheatle’s writing is poetic, rhythmic and unique, remaking the English language with tremendous verve. Though Crongton is his invention, it resonates with many urban situations, not only in Britain but around the world. Crongton Knights is a major novel from a major voice in British children’s literature.’
• The World Fantasy Awards winners are: Best Novel, Anna Smaill, The Chimes; Long Fiction, Kelly Barnhill, The Unlicensed Magician; Short Fiction, Alyssa Wong, Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers; Anthology, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R Stiles, eds, She Walks in Shadows; Collection, CSE Cooney, Bone Swans.
• The 11th Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards were awarded in Dublin. Winners: Best Irish Book, The Glass Shore, ed Sinéad Gleeson; Non-Fiction Book, I Read The News Today, Oh Boy, Paul Howard; Newcomer, Red Dirt, EM Reapy; Novel of the Year, Solar Bones, Mike McCormack; RTÉ Radio Listeners’ Choice Award, Lying In Wait, Liz Nugent; Popular Fiction, Holding, Graham Norton; Popular Non- Fiction, Making It Up As I Go Along, Marian Keyes; Crime, The Trespasser, Tana French; Short Story, The Visit, Orla McAlinden.