Conville & Walsh

We’re delighted to announce that two of our authors are on this year’s longlist for the Desmond Elliott Prize. S J Watson has been nominated for Before I Go to Sleep, and Rachel Joyce has been nominated for The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Both books are current bestsellers, and Before I Go to Sleep is the best selling book of the year so far in the UK.

The Desmond Elliott Prize was inaugurated in honour of the publisher and literary agent, one of the most charismatic and successful men in this field, who died in August 2003. He stipulated that his estate should be invested in a charitable trust that would fund a literary award ‘to enrich the careers of new writers.’ Worth £10,000 to the winner, the Prize is intended to support new writers and to celebrate their fiction.

This year’s panel of judges is chaired by one of Desmond Elliott’s own protégés, the critically acclaimed author Sam Llewellyn. He is joined by Tom Gatti, Deputy Editor of The Times Review section and Caroline Mileham, Head of Books at Play.com. A shortlist of three books will be announced in May, followed by a winner announcement on Thursday 28 June at Fortnum & Mason, London.

In other news, we’ve also just seen this wonderful trailer for Harold Fry’s release in Germany next month - hope you enjoy it.