Buckle wins Barbellion Prize for 'powerful' novel What Willow Says

Lynn Buckle has won the Barbellion Prize for her “powerful” novel What Willow Says (Époque Press). 

The Barbellion is a prize for the furtherance of ill and disabled voices in writing and was launched in 2020 by self-published author Jake Goldsmith, who suffers from cystic fibrosis. 

Buckle’s story follows a deaf child and her grandmother’s experiment with the lyrical beauty of sign language through their love of trees against the backdrop of myths, legends and ancient bogs. 

Goldsmith said he was “delighted” to give this year’s award to Buckle. “There was a stellar shortlist this year, it’s a common thing to say, but picking a winner is hard. In future years, when we have the capacity to do so, it is our intention to award all shortlisted authors a prize, with the trophy going to the winner, first among equals.” he said. 

Judge Eleanor Franzén said the novel was “potentially both disorienting and reorienting to a non-deaf audience, which is really what I think the best writing about all sorts of experience ought to be”.  

Fellow judge Karl Knights added: “Reading the entries for the Barbellion Prize made one thing absolutely clear – disability literature has never been more vibrant and searchingly alive as it is now.” 

The winning book was chosen from a shortlist featuring Ultimatum Orangutan by Khairani Barokka (Nine Arches Press), A Still Life: A Memoir by Josie George (Bloomsbury) and Duck Feet by Ely Percy (Monstrous Regiment).