Winning short stories

Japanese author Haruki Murakami has won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize for his collection Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman. The £23,000 prize will be shared between Murkami and his 2 translators. The judges said: "Long after reading his stories, the images and situations he constructs remain unforgettable ... His writing reminds us, ultimately, that the reader comes to published work in search of magic."

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize

"Founded in 1967, the prize has a tradition of finding new voices in children's fiction before the rest of the world is aware of them. Past winners have included Philip Pullman, Jacqueline Wilson and Mark Haddon.... From floating coffee houses to art thieves, futuristic fantasy to boy's own adventure, the four books shortlisted for the 2006... prize reflect the scope and quality of contemporary writing for young readers." http://books.guardian.co.uk/childrensfictionprize2006/0,,1779116,00.html
This year's 4 shortlisted titles: Framed, by Frank Cottrell Boyce; Blown Away by Patrick Cave; Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge; and A Darkling Plain (my choice!) by Philip Reeve.

Man Booker Prize for Fiction

The shortlist was announced on 14 September. The 6 shortlisted books are:
Desai, Kiran The Inheritance of Loss - Hamish Hamilton
Grenville, Kate The Secret River - Canongate
Hyland, M.J. Carry Me Down - Canongate
Matar, Hisham In the Country of Men - Viking
St Aubyn, Edward Mother’s Milk - Picador
Waters, Sarah The Night Watch - Virago
Man Booker Prize Website
To keep up to date, why not subscribe to email alerts about the prize?

Teenage Book Prize

The 2006 shortlist has been announced. Recognising and celebrating the best contemporary teenage fiction, the award is decided by 4 adult and 4 teenage judges. The winner will be announced on 2 November 2006. The list is:
Siobhan Dowd A Swift Pure Cry David Fickling Books Irish First Novel
Ally Kennen Beast Scholastic Books British First Novel
Paul Magrs Exchange Simon and Schuster British
Anthony McGowan Henry Tumour Doubleday British
Marcus Sedgwick The Foreshadowing Orion Children’s Books British
John Singleton Angel Blood Puffin British
WEBSITE

Sevenoaks Literary Celebration

Among those appearing at the festival, which goes on until October 7, are Lionel Shriver, Jenny Uglow, Malorie Blackman and John Mullan. Full details at www.sevenoaksliterarycelebration.org.uk.

George Bernard Shaw, 5 October

Michael Holroyd (author of an acclaimed biography of Shaw) and Roy Foster (Professor of Irish History at Oxford) will be in discussion in the TLS series at the National Portrait Gallery at 7 pm. Tickets £5/3 - phone 020 7306 0055 or go to www.npg.org.uk

J G Ballard, September 14

Talking about his new book, Kingdom Come, at the Institute of Education at 7 pm. Tickets £7/5 from 0845 456 9876

Martin Amis, 3 October

His new book takes the form of a novella and two stories. He will be discussing it at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank Centre, at 7:30 pm. Tickets £9 from www.rfh.org.uk/literature.

William Boyd, 30 September

In the Purcell Room at the South Bank Centre, he will be discussing his work and his new novel Restless at 7:45 pm. Tickets £8.50, bookable online at www.rfh.org.uk/literature.

Mark Haddon, 26 September

In the Purcell Room at the South Bank Centre, the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time will talk about his new novel, A Spot of Bother. 7:45 pm, tickets £8.50. book online at www.rfh.org/literature.

Roald Dahl Day, September 13

September 13 marks what would have been the 90th birthday of Roald Dahl, and celebrations are being held all over the country. At the National Theatre, there is a free exhibition of Quentin Blake's illustrations of his books in the Lyttleton foyer (until September 30). Fans are also encouraged to raise money for the Roald Dahl Foundation group of charities through Readathon (www.readathon.org) - the Junior and Lower School libraries will be supporting this as usual this term. You can also celebrate Roald Dahl Day by wearing something yellow, wearing your clothes backwards, saying 'gobbledegunk'.... read more at the Roald Dahl Day website.
Also: http://www.roalddahl.com/

John Betjeman exhibition

'A PARTICULAR ENGLISH MUSIC': JOHN BETJEMAN, 1906 - 84. This centenary exhibition celebrates Betjeman's life, writings and achievements through books, manuscripts, letters and photographs in the British Library collections. In the entrance hall at St Pancras until October 8.
You can see award-winning biographer AN Wilson discussing his new biography of John Betjeman on 11 September 2006, 18.30-20.00 in the Conference Centre, tickets £6.00 (concessions £4.00). To book, call the British Library Box Office on 020 7412 7222 or email boxoffice@bl.uk.
John Betjeman centernary website

Andrew O'Hagan, 13 September

At the London Review Bookshop in Bloomsbury at 7 pm. The author of Personality, talking about his new book Be Near Me. Details as for Andrew Motion below.