Vintage salutes Rushdie ahead of new book’s publication as 2023 authors showcased

Vintage showcased its 2023 authors at an event in London on 20th September, highlighting how it is “especially proud” to be publishing Salman Rushdie’s new upcoming novel.

A spokesperson told the audience of journalists, booksellers and authors at the Ham Yard Hotel: “There’s one book and an author we’ll be especially proud to publish in 2023 and that’s Victory City by Salman Rushdie.

“In Victory City Salman has gifted us an epic tale, rich with the message that while our power is fleeting, our stories last forever. He finishes with the line ‘words are the only victor’. And this line feels prescient as we think of Salman every day. Inspired by his bravery and his steadfast belief in and deep commitment to free speech, we salute you Salman.”

Victory City is set to be published on 9th February 2023, a date a Vintage previously told The Bookseller was not under review or likely to change as a result of the attack on Rushdie in August.

Hosted by journalist and author Paula Akpan, the Vintage showcase featured 16 Vintage fiction writers talking about their new novels.

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Brandon Taylor, Emma Cline and Dani Shapiro flew from the US to present their new novels, and the line-up also included debut author Tom Crewe, Jacqueline Crooks, Ore Agbaje-Wiliams, and Phoebe McIntosh. Megan Nolan and Elaine Feeney spoke of their second novels, while writers Joseph O’Connor, Diana Evans, Abir Mukherjee, Kirsty Logan, Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché also discussed their upcoming works.

Hannah Telfer, managing director at Vintage, said of the 2023 line-up: “We know that readers want to be transported now more than ever, to suspend the routines of daily life for a few hours, to fall into someone else’s world, to be entertained, surprised and moved.”

Adjei-Brenyah’s Chain-Gang All-Stars (6th July 2023, Harvill Secker) tells the story of two top women gladiators fighting for their freedom within a depraved private prison system; Shapiro’s Signal Fires (9th February 2023, Chatto & Windus) examines the ties that bind families together and O’Connor’s My Father’s House (26th January 2023, Harvill Secker) tells the true story of when the Nazis took Rome.

Also showcased were Evans’ A House for Alice (6th April 2023, Chatto & Windus); McIntosh’s Dominoes (1st June 2023, Chatto & Windus); Feeney’s How to Build a Boat (20th April 2023, Harvill Secker); Mukherjee’s upcoming novel whose title is to be confirmed (20th July 2023, Harvill Secker) and Jacqueline Crooks’ Fire Rush (2nd March 2023, Jonathan Cape).

Taylor spoke about his upcoming novel The Late Americans (22nd June 2023, Jonathan Cape); Macdonald and Sin Blaché on their co-written sci-fi thriller Prophet (24th August 2023, Jonathan Cape); Nolan about her second novel Ordinary Human Failings (15th June 2023, Jonathan Cape); and Crewe on his debut The New Life (12th January 2023, Chatto & Windus).

Logan discussed Now She is Witch (12th January 2023, Harvill Secker); Emma Cline spoke about The Guest (11th May 2023, Chatto & Windus); and Agbaje-Wiliams discussed The Three of Us (18th May 2023, Jonathan Cape).