24 July, 2024
My Fair Novel: Meet Our Novel Fair Debutantes of 2024
Many of you will already be aware of our annual Novel Fair competition, providing twelve writers with the opportunity to pitch their debut novels to leading agents and publishers over the course of two days, both in-person at the Irish Writers Centre and online. Running since 2011, this annual ‘speed-dating’ style event lets authors bypass the slush pile and pitch their work, face-to-face, to industry professionals.
Since its inauguration, there’ve been 152 Novel Fair winners and you can read all about the past success stories thanks to writer (and former Irish Writers Centre team member) Tom Jordan in this post from last year. In order to whet the appetites of future novelists, ahead of Novel Fair 2025 submissions call (opening this September!), read our first Novel Fair 2025 blog that takes a look at Novel Fair winners whose debut novels have been published this year…
Novel Fair 2020 winner Miki Lentin’s novel Winter Sun, published by Afsana Press in March, is a captivating story of a son’s frustrating relationship with his father that comes to a head during a winter break in Tenerife.
Irish author Niamh Boyce (Novel Fair 2012 winner with The Herbalist) says it’s “written from the heart, with skill and honesty, this is a warm, highly intelligent novel. Just beautiful. I was thoroughly moved by Winter Sun. An elegantly constructed, moving and hilarious read that brings the reader to Tenerife, the Hotel Optimist and home again, with some elegant twists and thought provoking questions about how we love each other, and how maybe imperfect love is enough. A page turner!” Meanwhile, Kevin Curran (Novel Fair 2012 winner with Beatsploitation) notes it to be “a gentle, finely crafted novel with a brilliantly realised father-son relationship, and a nuanced, beautifully written observation of old age.”
Centred in the Hotel Optimist, where a son unpacks his quest to better connect with his father, Miki says on his website; “Winter Sun has been a labour of love. I wrote it during my MA, put it aside for a couple of years after it failed to sell at the start of the pandemic. I’m thrilled that I have found a home for it through Afsana Press. Writing Winter Sun took me to places I often didn’t want to go, but I wanted to show that we don’t always really know our parents and that sometimes, despite our best efforts, they remain hidden from us. But writing Winter Sun as autofiction gave me the freedom to write a story that I hope has resonance for readers out there.”
Read about Miki’s own relationship with his filmmaker Jewish Irish father in this Irish Times article from March this year.
For those getting their manuscripts ready for September’s submission call, Miki gives this advice; “Don’t over edit. Get it down and then re-write it. Be confident with what you have. Be authentic and stick to your voice. Don’t try and be literary. Remember, it’s your work!”
Like Miki’s novel that needed time to ruminate after its first draft, Anne Hamilton’s The Almost Truth also needed a little breathing space between being first penned and being published. Anne was a Novel Fair 2021 winner but didn’t find an agent for her novel straight away. Later, it was used as the base for a short story published by Edinburgh’s One City Trust and finally, after submitting another novel to Legend Books, she received an email asking if she had another book, and so she polished The Almost Truth for submission and now Anne has a two book deal. The first of which was The Almost Truth, published by Legend in April this year.
Author Paul Boyle said The Almost Truth was “a complex tale of interwoven cultures, told truthfully with humour and outright laughter, but always with Anne Hamilton’s trademark sensitivity, understanding and honesty. She is such a great story teller, her characters are so clearly drawn, they live and breathe.”
Read how The Almost Truth almost missed out in this article with Writing.ie.
Alison Langley was a Novel Fair 2022 winner where she pitched her debut Budapest Noir: IIona Gets a Phone. She didn’t pick up an agent at Novel Fair but knew she was on the right track; “When I didn’t get an agent or publisher, I realised I needed to keep working on my manuscript. I enrolled in David Butler’s writing class at the IWC and got cracking. Through David, I learned about Dedalus Books.”
Fast forward 2 years, Alison’s debut was published by Dedalus Press this February! Born in Missouri, with an upbringing in Minnesota, Alison is now at home in Switzerland. She was a stringer in Budapest for The Wall Street Journal Europe from 1990-1994, when and where the novel takes place. Author, David Butler says that Budapest Noir is ‘one of the pleasures of this novel is the kaleidoscopic mosaic of Budapest through some of the most significant moments of the 20th century.
In an interview with the Budapest Business Journal in May this year, Alison spoke of her own arrival in Budapest in 1990; “For me, Budapest 1990 was a lot like rural Minnesota in the 1970s. We arrived in August and were so surprised (pleasantly) to visit the vibrant market at Moszkva tér. I had expected poverty and scarcity, but the fruit and vegetables were varied and absolutely gorgeous… My main character is loosely based on a woman I met here.” Read the full interview with Budapest Business Journal here.
Alison didn’t pick up an agent during Novel Fair but one was not far away; “When I didn’t get an agent or publisher, I realised I needed to keep working on my manuscript. I enrolled in David Butler’s writing class at the IWC and got cracking. Through David, I learned about Dedalus Books.”
Leaving us with her own Novel Fair advice, Alison says;“You have only one chance to impress, so polish those 10,000 words until they shine. Strive for brilliance, dazzling the judges with every carefully chosen word. Leave them stunned: wishing there was more to read. Then do the same for the rest of your novel.”
The stage was set for Hesse Phillips and their historical novel Lightborne back at Novel Fair 2022. At the Fair, Hesse met their agent Brian Langan of Storyline Literary Agency. Lightborne was later published in May this year by Atlantic Books becoming the Sunday Times Book of the Month in May. Lightborne is a historical novel set on the Elizabethan streets of Kit Marlowe’s London, with the Queen on the hunt and lovers dying at his feet, literally. Fly back through time to 1588 and tease yourself with the prologue to Lightborne at Embark Literary Journal.
Hesse confessed that Lightborne was (is) “a labour of love born out of years of research, writing and rewrites, and I’m immensely honoured that it’s found a champion in my agent Brian Langan, and now a home at Atlantic Books. Karen and her team have the kind of vision and passion for this story that every writer dreams about – especially a debut author like myself. I couldn’t have hoped for a better group of people to bring Kit Marlowe and his world to life.”
In his praise of Lightborne, Irish Writers Centre ambassador, Joseph O’Connor said it’s “a wonderfully vivid and edgy piece of storytelling, the kind of brilliant writing that rescues historical fiction from the museum.”
Read all about Lightborne and Hesse Phillips in this Irish Times article.
Some advice from Hesse regarding the preparation for Novel Fair; “Remember, novels will continue to evolve until they are on the bookseller’s shelf. Don’t aim for perfection – just aim for clarity.”
Novel Fair 2020 winner, Estelle Birdy, saw her novel Ravelling published in May 2024 by Lilliput, who were recently awarded The Bookseller Small Press of the Year in Ireland. Although publication was delayed due to the pandemic, Estelle signed with Lilliput just weeks after meeting at Novel Fair 2020. Estelle is a writer, poet, book critic and yoga teacher who lives with her family in Dublin where her novel takes place. Ravelling is set on the streets of the Liberties, infused by the energies and agonies of its young men and the tumultuous trajectory of youth and young manhood, where they balance their hopes with the harsh realities of their present.
Donal Ryan called it “a glorious novel, tough and hilarious and full of heart. What a writer! Every line sings from the page.” Sebastian Barry described it as “written in fluent, truthful prose, with humour and empathy abounding” and Lauren Mackenzie (former Novel Fair 2021 winner with her debut The Couples) found it to be “a Revelation… A brilliantly profane, hilarious ride through the Liberties … Ravelling lays a sparkling new Dublin over the old.”
“It took a city to write this book,” Estelle told the Irish Independent in May this year, “it’s a story about threads, the threads of friendship, that we’re all the same and have to get along. That’s what the cover is about.”
Read more from Estelle’s interview with Margaret Roddy for the Irish Independent.
Orla Mackey’s debut novel, Mouthing, was published by Hamish Hamilton this May! Following her Novel Fair 2022 win, Orla had further meetings with agents before signing with The Bent Agency who listed her novel as one of their agency highlights at the London Book Fair which drew the interest of Hamish Hamilton. Orla is a writer and teacher based in Kilkenny, Ireland who studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin. Mouthing is a multigenerational portrait of small-town life in Ireland, a bittersweet love letter to small-town Irish life over several generations.
Jan Carson remarked that “Mouthing is a caustically witty novel for anyone who ever wondered what the neighbours are really up to behind closed doors,” while Aingeala Flannery, (herself a Novel Fair 2018 winner), noted it to be “full of disgrace, inherited trauma and family secrets. It will make you laugh – because if you didn’t, you’d surely cry.”
Orla herself, for an interview with RTE Culture, explained how “the book plays with the idea that all of our lives amount to a story… if your story goes untold, you pass into the forgotten. The characters in Mouthing seem aware of that… are asking you to listen to them. And to believe in what they’re saying.”
Read all about Orla’s Novel Fair journey in this interview with the Irish Writers Centre.
In relation to Novel Fair, Orla rightly says; “Concentrate on your first 10,000 words. In the case of Novel Fair, these are your golden ticket.”
History calls her a Muse. Temptress. Fallen woman. This is her story. Costanza is a dizzying, sensual debut novel that brings to life a feminist icon who has been written out of history. An addictive tale of desire and betrayal. Constanza, by Novel Fair 2022 winner Rachel Blackmore. Rachel was a runner up in Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Competition and then she made her way to Novel Fair 2022. It was through Novel Fair that she found her literary agent Blake Friedman and now Costanza is due out in August with Renegade Books. Costanza is historical novel set in Renaissance Rome, telling the story of Costanza Piccolomini, the muse of Bernini.
“I sat up into the early hours, unable to drag myself away from Costanza – what a joy! Rachel Blackmore rescues Costanza, wronged and defiant, from the shadows of history” says Karen Powell, author of Fifteen Wild Decembers while Sheila O’Flanagan, author of The Honeymoon Affair, announces ‘”this has to be my book of the year! Full of passion and desire… A story of the resilience of women in the face of male power”
Rachel spent more than a decade working and raising a family, before taking a career break to write historical fiction about marginalised women, as a way of looking at contemporary issues.
We shall leave you with a piece of advice from Rachel Blackmore; “take a chance … you’ll never know if this is your “right time, right place / moment” if you don’t submit”
How can I enter Novel Fair 2025?
The submission period runs from 1st – 30th September 2024.
Entry fee for applications is €55*. (Members of the Irish Writers Centre can enter for a discounted fee of €45)
This competition only accepts manuscripts for novels. Memoirs, short stories and works of non-fiction will not be considered.
There is no limitation on genre, or target market, for the novel. The only requirement being that the writer has not published a novel before i.e. has not previously published a novel with an ISBN (see Terms & Conditions for exceptions and more detailed information on eligibility)
Applicants are required to send a project synopsis of max. 300 words (+/- 10%) and up to 10,000 words of their novel (+/-10%).
You will be asked to submit your manuscript online via Submittable.
There is a limit of one entry per applicant per a year.
Find out more about the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair here.
* Each year, we have 20 free submission places for writers from backgrounds typically underrepresented in Irish literature.
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