Two of Tindal Street Press’s finest authors are appearing at Birmingham Book Festival to discuss commerce, the credit crunch and our need to buy.
David Gaffney, from Manchester, will be launching his new novel Never, Never, a comic tale about addiction to debt, while Birmingham author Catherine O’Flynn, who was longlisted for the Booker Prize, will be talking about What Was Lost, her novel set in a shopping centre not altogether different from Dudley’s Merry Hill.
The pair will appear at Birmingham Conservatoire on Tuesday as part of the book festival, which is supported by the Birmingham Post.
“Catherine has been a wonderful ambassador for us,” said Alan Mahar publishing director. “She’s very personable, very witty. David is a very funny speaker. He’s actually had two collections of short stories published. This is his first novel.”
Tindal Street Press is currently in the spotlight, mainly because of its back-to-back Man Booker Prize longlisting. Gaynor Arnold’s Girl in a Blue Dress was longlisted this year and Catherine O’Flynn was on the list the year before.
Mr Mahar added: “Basically out of 42 books published since we started in 1999, 11 have been listed for a national prize of one sort or another. The level of respect and interest that we’re getting is noticeable, certainly in the last year.”
He has got his sights on the people he hopes will be the prize winners for next year, including Anthony Cartwright, from Dudley, with his second novel, Heartland, which as the title implies is set in his native territory.
