Roffey, Mars-Jones and Boyce longlisted for RSL Ondaatje Prize

Monique Roffey, Adam Mars-Jones and James Boyce are among authors who have been longlisted for this year's £10,000 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize.

The annual prize is awarded to the author of an outstanding work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that best evokes the spirit of a certain location. Imperial Mud by James Boyce (Icon Books) explores the legacy and history of the indigenous population of the fens of eastern England, while Monique Roffey's Costa Book of the Year-winner The Mermaid of Black Conch (Peepal Tree Press) is set on an imaginary Caribbean island. Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones, winner of the £3,000 Fitzcarraldo Editions novel prize, explores the gay scene in the Surrey area.

Thirteen books have been chosen for this year’s longlist, selected by judges Lola, Baroness Young of Hornsey (chair), Helen Mort and Adam Rutherford.

The full longlist comprises:

Imperial Mud by James Boyce (Icon Books)
Out of Thin Air by Michael Crawley (Bloomsbury Sport)
The Beauty and the Terror by Catherine Fletcher (Bodley Head)
Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen (John Murray Publishers)
The Butchers by Ruth Gilligan (Atlantic Books)
This Lovely City by Louise Hare (HQ)
Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones(Fitzcarraldo Editions)
Scenes of a Graphic Nature by Caroline O’Donoghue (Virago)
Magnolia, 木蘭 by Nina Powles(Nine Arches Press)
English Pastoral by James Rebanks (Allen Lane)
Unofficial Britain by Gareth E Rees (Elliot & Thompson)
The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey (Peepal Tree Press)
Square Haunting by Francesca Wade (Faber & Faber)

Previous recipients of the prize have included Roger Robinson, Aida Edemariam, Pascale Petit, Francis Spufford, Alan Johnson, Edmund de Waal, Hisham Matar and Louisa Waugh. The shortlist will be announced on Tuesday 27th April and the winner will be revealed on Tuesday 11th May.