Our latest blog posts

Q&A with the 2023 Readings Young Adult Prize shortlist authors

With the upcoming announcement of this year's winner, our Young Adult Prize shortlist authors talk about their inspiration, the creative process, their perfect reader, their favourite writing advice, and what they hope readers take away from their books.

What was the initial inspiration for your story?

Alice Boyle (Dancing Barefoot): The initial inspiration for Dancing Barefoot came in my final year of my creative writing degree. I was doing a subject on writing for young adults and…

Read more ›

Finding your inner artist through books

by Poppy, Teen Advisory Board

Art is everywhere around us, including in the books we read. To help find the perfect gift for the art lover in your life, or to unlock your own creativity, here are some personal favourites which might provide inspiration.

Prolific children’s author Peter H. Reynolds is probably already on your child’s bookshelf. But I think two of his picture books are as perfect for adults as they are for young readers. Ish shares the story of Ramon, a boy who…

Read more ›

A spotlight on translated fiction this month

This month we're reading fiction translated from Japanese, French, Norwegian, Korean & Italian.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa (translated from Japanese by Eric Ozawa)

Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building lies a shop filled with hundreds of second-hand books. Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. It is the pride and joy of her uncle…

Read more ›

Jon Fosse wins The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 has been awarded to the Norwegian author Jon Fosse.

The Swedish Academy awarded Fosse the prize 'for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable'.

His immense oeuvre written in Norwegian Nynorsk and spanning a variety of genres consists of a wealth of plays, novels, poetry collections, essays, children’s books and translations. While he is today one of the most widely performed playwrights in the world, he has also become increasingly…

Read more ›

Q&A with the 2023 Readings Children's Prize shortlist authors

With the upcoming announcement of this year’s winner, our Children’s Prize shortlist authors talk about their inspiration, the creative process, their perfect reader, their favourite writing advice and what they hope readers take away from their books.

Want to know more about each shortlisted title? Explore the shortlist here.

What was the initial inspiration for your story?

Neridah McMullin (Evie and Rhino): I love reading about shipwrecks. Not only reference books, but online through the State…

Read more ›

What we're reading: Fawcett, Collins & Jackson

Each week our amazing staff bring you a sample of the books or music they're immersed in.

Lian Hingee is reading Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

I don't know if it's the general dreadful state of the world, the awfulness of the news, or the looming dread of climate catastrophe, but there's been a really big uptick in 'cosy' iterations of my favourite genres, and I for one am here for it. People being nice to each…

Read more ›

Q&A with Megan Whalen Turner

by Alicia Guiney

Alicia from Readings Kids recently had the exciting opportunity to interview YA fantasy superstar Megan Whalen Turner and below is the transcript of what transpired.

Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to ask you some questions on behalf of Readings. Before I get into those I just wanted to tell you how much I love your books and how much they have meant to me. I began reading the Queen’s Thief series when I was 14 and

Read more ›

The Goldsmiths Prize shortlist 2023

The shortlist for this year’s Goldsmiths Prize has been announced! This prize was established in 2013 to celebrate the qualities of creative daring and to reward fiction that breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form. You can learn more about the history of the prize here.

The six titles shortlisted for the 2023 Goldsmiths Prize are:

Lori & Joe by Amy Arnold

The Long Form by Kate Briggs

Never Was by Gareth H. Gavin

Read more ›