The Royal Society of Literature has announced the shortlist for their very first RSL Christopher Bland Prize, and we are delighted to announce Barbara Jenkin’s De Rightest Place has made the list.
The RSL Christopher Bland Prize is a brand new £10,000 prize in honour of the late Sir Christopher Bland exclusively for debut novels by writers aged 50 and over. In addition to the cash prize, the author of the winning work will also be offered a choice of a two-week writing retreat in either France or Ireland.
De Rightest Place was published last year and received glowing reviews from the Guardian, Paper Based Bookshop, T&T Guardian, and Nudge Books.
The debut novel from Jenkins centres around Indira Gabriel who, recently abandoned by her lover, embarks on a project to reinvigorate a dilapidated bar into something special. In this funny, sexy, and bittersweet novel, Barbara Jenkins draws together a richly-drawn cast of characters, like a Trinidadian Cheers. The judges said, ‘De Rightest Place takes us into the human heart of Trinidad. A warm, funny and unexpected book, that makes the reader laugh and want to join in the company at Indira’s bar.’ - Gillian Slovo. Read more about De Rightest Place here.
Peepal Tree's Managing Editor Jeremy Poynting said ‘I am thrilled to hear that Barbara’s work has been recognised in this way. From the moment I read her first draft of De Rightest Place, I was convinced that Barbara was the best writer of serious comedy since Sam Selvon.’
Barbara Jenkins was born in Trinidad. She studied at the University college of Wales, and University College, Cardiff. Since she started writing in 208, her stories have won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize Caribbean Region in 2010 and 2011; the Wasafiri New Writing Prize; The Canute Brodhurst Prize for short fiction, The Caribbean Writer; the Small Axe short story competition 2011; the Romance Category and My African Diaspora Short Story Contest. Some of Jenkin’s work also features in the new Daughters of Africa anthology. Her debut short story collection, Sic Transit Wagon (Peepal Tree, 2013) was awarded the Guyana Prize for Caribbean Literature Award.
Novelist Gillian Slovo will be chairing the committee of judges for the 2019 prize, which will consist of writer and comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar, Sir Christopher Bland’s son Archie Bland, and Anne Chisholm, biographer and RSL vice-president. The prize hopes to encourage older writers. ‘Christopher was a hugely successful businessman,’ says Gillian. ‘He came to writing fiction when he was in his 60s and managed to publish 2 novels and produce a play in the period before his death.’
Peepal Tree wishes the best of luck to Barbara Jenkins and all the other writers nominated. The other titles shortlisted are Thomas Bourke, The Consolation of Maps (Riverrun); A J Pearce, Dear Mrs Bird (Picador); Roland Philipps, A Spy Named Orphan (Bodley Head); Alex Reeve, The House on Half Moon Street (Raven Books); and Raynor Winn, The Salt Path (Michael Joseph).
You can read more about the inaugural prize on RSL’s website.