Jarvis Cocker and Mary Beard announced as Booker prize judges

11 décembre 2025 à 18:59

The historian is set to lead a ‘stellar’ 2026 panel featuring the Pulp frontman and other acclaimed writers, as the search begins for next year’s standout work of fiction

Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker will feature on the 2026 Booker prize judging panel that will be chaired by the classicist and broadcaster Mary Beard.

Novelist Patricia Lockwood has also been named as a judge, along with the poet Raymond Antrobus and Rebecca Liu, an editor at the Guardian Saturday magazine.

Confessions of a Shopaholic novelist Sophie Kinsella dies aged 55

The Guardian

Par :Ella Creamer

10 décembre 2025 à 13:53

The ‘queen of romantic comedy’ has died 18 months after announcing her brain cancer diagnosis

Madeleine Wickham, known for writing the bestselling novel Confessions of a Shopaholic under her pen name Sophie Kinsella, has died aged 55.

Wickham, dubbed “the queen of romantic comedy” by novelist Jojo Moyes, wrote more than 30 books for adults, children and teenagers, which have sold more than 45m copies.

Elif Shafak named new president of the Royal Society of Literature

The Guardian

Par :Ella Creamer

8 décembre 2025 à 14:12

The British-Turkish writer was elected after a vote among the society’s fellows, with outgoing president Bernardine Evaristo describing her selection as ‘terrifically inspired’

Novelist Elif Shafak has been named the new president of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL), taking over from Bernardine Evaristo as she reaches the end of her four-year term.

British-Turkish writer Shafak, the author of novels including The Island of Missing Trees and There Are Rivers in the Sky, was announced in the role on Friday after a vote among fellows at the society’s AGM on Thursday.

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