Ferdia Lennon's 'riotous, exuberant' novel wins £5k Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize

Ferdia Lennon was named winner of the £5,000 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024 for his novel Glorious Exploits (Fig Tree) at an evening ceremony at Waterstones’ flagship bookshop in Piccadilly.

Six books were shortlisted for the prize and the winner was selected by Waterstones booksellers. Beyond the cash prize, Lennon has also won Waterstones’ ongoing commitment to his writing career. 

“Lennon brings the ancient world to life in technicolour, from the horrors of war to the moments of hilarity to be found in the mundane, with a charmingly eccentric cast of characters," said Bea Carvalho, head of books at Waterstones. "It is a riotous, exuberant treat of a novel, which celebrates the redemptive power of art, and the catharsis to be found in storytelling."

Set in 412BC Sicily, the book follows two locals and a group of captured Athenian soldiers as they stage one of Euripides’ tragedies. "It had always struck me that ancient Greek comedy, such as that of Aristophanes, has something of the ribald, irreverent humour I grew up with in Dublin and that blending this with the universal themes of classical tragedy would be one way to evoke a living breathing ancient world that felt contemporary and urgent," Lennon said. "A chance discovery of a line from Plutarch, where we learn that Athenian prisoners of war survived by quoting lines from Euripides’ plays to their Sicilian captors, showed me the path the novel would take and Glorious Exploits was born.”

Speaking to The Bookseller after the announcement of his win, Lennon said that Glorious Exploits was not his first attempt at a novel, but that this project felt different. "I think, partly, it was just a belief that there was something there – and I had doubts, some periods I was like, ’Oh no, this isn’t going to work,’ but I kept going back to it," he said. "I felt like if I didn’t finish the book, I would really regret it."

Last year’s winner was In Memoriam by Alice Winn (Viking).