McCormack's Solar Bones up for Republic of Consciousness Prize

Irish author Mike McCormack’s Goldsmiths prize-winning novel Solar Bones (Tramp Press) is one of the eight titles shortlisted for the inaugural Republic of Consciousness Prize for small presses, alongside titles from indies including Freight Books, Galley Beggar Press and Cassava Republic.

The prize was launched by novelist Neil Griffiths to celebrate “small presses producing brilliant and brave literary fiction” in the UK and Ireland. Griffiths intends for the prize to help support literary fiction and the kinds of publishers who are “willing to take risks”.

The novels joining McCormack’s “unassertively profound” Solar Bones on the shortlist are the “deceptively simple” Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John (Cassava Republic), Anakana Schofield’s Martin John (And Other Stories), and Paul Stanbridge’s Forbidden Line (Galley Beggar.).

There are also four short story collections shortlisted: Diane Williams’s Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine (CB Editions), KJ Orr’s debut collection Light Box (Daunt Books), John Keene’s Counternarratives (Fitzcarraldo Editions) and Treats by Lara Williams (Freight Books).

Funds for the £7,000 prize were raised via a raffle which saw pledges entered into a draw to win subscriptions and bundles of books from small presses.

The winner will be announced in March.