We’re proud at Free Lunch of our long history of Professional Development – and since this is something we’re often asked about, we’ll add a page soon explaining what we do and why it works so well for us…
We’re feeling a little Lost…
We’re running out of fingers to cross…
In yet more exciting news, Patrice has been longlisted for the Jhalak Prize
2020 is the inaugural year of the Jhalak Children’s and YA Prize and it’s a real honour to find Patrice Lawrence’s Eight Piece of Silva on the longlist. The recently established Jhalak Prize celebrates the work of British / British resident BAME writers and both adult and children’s prizes showcase exciting new work.
In the words of the prize’s anonymous sponsor:
In Hindi and many related Northern Indian dialects, Jhalak means ‘glimpse’; implicitly brief, often tantalising with promise, piquing curiosity to explore further. It seems an appropriate name for what I believe is the first prize for Book Of The Year By A Writer of Colour.
Anonymous sponsor of Jhalak Prize
More good news
Well done, Patrice, on the bloomin’ shortlist (again!)
At Free Lunch we’ve also now got our fingers crossed for Patrice, who is on the shortlist for the YA prize – here’s hoping you repeat your triumph of 2017.
Well done Jenny, for outstanding appearance!
Huge congratulations to Jenny for being placed on this year’s ‘Outstanding’ Carnegie Medal long list…
As reported by the Guardian:
‘This year’s 20-book longlist teems with novels exploring loss, grief and mental wellbeing. Acevedo’s novel in verse, Clap When You Land, follows two girls devastated by the death of their father. Manjeet Mann’s Run, Rebel, another verse novel, follows a girl trying to escape her claustrophobic home life. In, The Girl Who Became a Tree, by performance poet Joseph Coelho and illustrator Kate Milner, a girl tries to make sense of the loss of her father. In Jenny Downham’s Furious Thing, a 15-year-old girl deals with emotional abuse from her mother’s fiance. And in Danielle Jawando’s And The Stars Were Burning Brightly, a teenage boy’s world falls apart when his brother takes his own life.
Guardian, Thursday 18th February 2021
"I won an Oscar….sorta"
Jenny’s Earphones Award for the audiobook of Furious Thing
Huge congratulations to Jenny for winning an Earphones Award for her audiobook version of Furious Thing. Jenny has a well-deserved reputation for narrating her own novels and it’s good to see that her latest performance is already gaining recognition.
We’ll try and persuade her to share the secret of her audio success in a future post. (A clue – it is about hard work as well as talent).
Q & A with Nathalie
Paper Sparrows is your second novel set in Lebanan, how does it relate to your previous novel, A Girl Made of Dust?
A Girl Made of Dust was set in Lebanon during the 1980’s, and told the story of a young girl’s experience of the civil war that was then going on. Paper Sparrows takes place in 2006, and is told from the perspective of 19-year-old, Layla, who might easily be an older version of Ruba. And there is also a war – short-lived but also devastating.
Do you ever go back? What do you think it would be like growing up now in Lebanon?
Although I do go back to Lebanon, I wasn’t there that particular year. But the book is based on my knowledge of the way people talk, their attitudes, and most definitely the sense of place. Growing up in Lebanon now must, I imagine, be a very different experience. Right now the economy is in free-fall, life is extremely tough and the future uncertain. Although having said that, this was also the case in wartime.
What are the best and worst things you remember about growing up there?
Best: firstly, being surrounded by family, their unconditional love and warmth, and secondly, the freedom to roam and just be in nature.
Worst: being trapped (often in one room) by the bombing.
What’s it like being published so close to Hilary Mantel’s The Light and the Mirror? Do you think she’ll be jealous?
Well, she’s trying not to let on, but …
Dog is an important character in Paper Sparrows. Is he based on a real dog? There’s a certain hairy chap who features on your Instagram…
Dog is based on my first rescue dog, Gertie, although like any character, he soon took on a life of his own. And yes, dogs do and I suspect always will feature heavily in anything I write. Watch this space for further adventures of my current hairy rescue chap, Alfie.
How does Free Lunch help (or perhaps hinder?) your writing?
Free Lunch is an invaluable source of wisdom, support and friendship in this writer’s journey.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a historical novel set in a circus, featuring a woman on the run, and, of course, a dog.
What has writing this book taught you? What has been the hardest thing about writing this book?
The hardest thing about writing this book was that it was based on real events that took place in the country I grew up in. I didn’t want to do a disservice to those people who lived through the 2006 war, but I really wanted to tell their story – to put the reader in that place and have them walk through what it must have been like.
Writing this book also taught me to persevere. I actually wrote it several years ago, and it has been a long path to getting it published. But I got there in the end!
Thank you, Nathalie
NATHALIE ABI-EZZI WAS TALKING TO ANNA OWEN
Shock sighting of a flight of Paper Sparrows…
Spotted today in Stoke Newington Bookshop, days before the official publication date, Nathalie’s new work is on the wing. A copy of the rapidly diminishing flock was bought after this photo was taken, so customers will have to be quick to grab the last copy.
Well done, Nathalie. You beat Hilary Mantel to the table!
Paper Sparrows Launch
Nathalie’s official launch date is the 5th of March 2020. For more details, check out her website:
http://nathalieabiezzi.com/papersparrows/
We're getting excited…. about our new baby:
Elly spotted this tweet which confirms that Nathalie’s book is out there and being read ahead of its launch date:
“OMG, someone is reading my book! I have no idea who but someone!!“
Nathalie Abi-Ezzi, 14th February 2020
Jenny on tour
At the Scholastic stand – American Library Institute Winter Conference
Jenny had a warm welcome in Philadelphia when she addressed the American Library Institute at a Scholastic hosted event… (nice book cover, Jenny)
She has been making friends and influencing….errr…people?
Photo courtesy of Publisher’s Weekly Winter Institute 2020 in Photos
Her new friend looks very pleased to make her acquaintance (maybe set some clear boundaries around re-homing???)
anythingforafreelunch 