Longlisted for this year’s Orwell Prize for Political Fiction is Glen James Brown’s Ironopolis.
Ironopolis is Glen’s first novel, and since its release in 2018, it has received a huge swathe of positive attention, including a stellar review from the Guardian.
We’re thrilled to finally see Glen nominated for an award, and for such a prestigious one at that: Ironopolis will be up against some big names (Milkman, Faber & Faber; Brother, Bloomsbury; Ordinary People, Chatto & Windus; to name a few). It’s a brilliant win for small (and Welsh!) publishing.
According to the Orwell Foundation, “Winning entries should strive to meet Orwell’s own ambition ‘to make political writing into an art’. They should be of equal excellence in style and content, and the writing must live up to the values of The Orwell Foundation.” And the judges said of this year’s list that it “acknowledges that the politics in a book can often be found between the lines, rather than on them, and that making your voice heard can sometimes be the most political act of all.”
If that’s not reason enough to get reading Ironopolis, we don’t know what is! Fantastic news for Glen - we’re keeping our fingers crossed for the shortlist…
The shortlists will be revealed later in the month, with the winner of the £3,000 prize announced at a ceremony on Tuesday 25th June.
