To Hell with Prizes 2011 – Award for Best Unpublished Novel

Our 2010 award was a huge success.  The winning novel was sold to Cannongate who bought worldwide rights from Cathryn Summerhayes at William Morris.

‘To Hell with Prizes is utterly brilliant and revolutionary. I urge every agent in the UK to delve into their bottom drawers and pull out that one novel they still can’t believe they didn’t sell. It could be a life-changing move for one of their authors, it certainly was for one of mine!’  – Cathryn Summerhayes

To Hell with Prizes 2011 is now open for submission.  For more information and to download the entry and eligibility form click on ‘PRIZES’.

 

To Hell with the Lighthouse, Monday 9 August

Come to our next To Hell with the Lighthouse night (as, ahem, mentioned in the Guardian)! Feel more literary without having to forgo drinking and talking for more than 15 minutes at a time. Our Monday 9 August line-up:

ADAM THIRLWELL. Author of the hit POLITICS, reading from his latest novel THE ESCAPE which: ‘fizzes with intelligence, verbal skill and humour.’ (Observer)

NED BEAUMAN. Author of one of the most anticipated novels of the summer, his debut BOXER, BEETLE: ‘An astonishing debut…buzzing with energy, fizzing with ideas, intoxicating in its language, BOXER, BEETLE is sexy, intelligent and deliriously funny.’ (Jake Arnott)

NATASHA SOLOMONS. Author of the critically acclaimed MR ROSENBLUM’S LIST: ’An unusual, richly comic novel…a treat of a book.’ (Guardian)

It kicks off at 7.30pm at Peter Parker’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Club, Denmark Street, WC2H 8LP. You can read this info but in, like, a cool new media-y way if you join our facebook group or follow Emma on twitter.

Hope to see you there!

SLAM Launch Party and Exhibition

We’re publishing a new photography book from Katinka Herbert, SLAM: Lucha Libre’s Superheroes Of The Ring! Come and raise a glass to Katinka with the To Hell with Publishing team at To Hell with Books, 10 Woburn Walk, WC1H 0JL, on Thursday, July 15. We’ll be kicking things off at around 6:30 pm (with tequila shots no less!). We’ll also be displaying some of Katinka’s favourite shots on our walls, and, of course, there’ll be copies of the book available to buy.

RSVP to emma@tohellwithpublishing.com or just show up!

SLAM takes a new look at the stars of Mexican wrestling, in a beautiful coffee-table-worthy book designed by Fuel. Katinka Herbert is a respected international portrait photographer whose work regularly appears in publications such as the Guardian, Observer, Telegraph, Food Illustrated and Dazed and Confused. Raised on a diet of Giant haystacks and Big Daddy, with a pinch of Evel Knievel, Katinka also recently collaborated with Marco Pierre White on the production of The Best of British cook book.

Reviews Make Us Happy

A good review in the morning is the best breakfast of all. Our latest nutritious treat, courtesy of The Guardian:

Enterprising new publisher To Hell With . . . states its intent with Gillespie’s emotionally visceral debut. [...] The spectre of Lionel Shriver’s Kevin is omnipresent, particularly in the black comedy and ambiguous aspects of the tale. Yet this is a confident, impressive work in its own right.

For more Cuckoo Boy reviews, To Hell mentions, and blog stuff, visit our Press Centre.

David Whitehouse Takes Home the To Hell with Prizes, um, Prize

David Whitehouse with Kwame Kwei-Armah, Francis Bickmore, India Knight

We feel like the To Hell with Prizes award ceremony last Sunday couldn’t have gone any better (think running out of wine and forcing everyone to drink straight shots of Jack Daniels was an accident? Think again). Our snazzy venue was full of London’s best and brightest literary types, with the welcome addition of a few out-of-towners who wouldn’t let a little volcano stop them from getting to the London Book Fair. We got to listen to fantastic readings by veteran authors DBC Pierre, Andrew O’Hagan, and Hanif Kureishi, as well as the first-ever reading of our new book The Cuckoo Boy by debut author Grant Gillespie.

And of course, David Whitehouse (represented by Cathryn Summerhayes of William Morris Endeavor Entertainment) took the prize for his novel Bed, as judged by our superstar panel: journalist India Knight, Canongate editor Francis Bickmore, Waterstone’s online editor Greg Eden, and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah.

Favourite quotes of the night? India Knight cheekily telling the publishing industry to “try harder” to get risky new authors published, and David admitting that his newly-won £5,000 was the exact amount he owed his mother.

Check out an extract of Bed here, if you haven’t already.

The Cuckoo Boy Takes Flight

If you don’t like puns (especially of the avian variety), then this probably isn’t the place for you. The Cuckoo Boy by Grant Gillepsie is the first novel on our To Hell With First Novels list, and although it contains few puns, it’s very good. It hits shelves May 6, so expect a lot of shouting about it until then . . . and after then. See here for more details on this brilliant new book.

David Vann Packs the To Hell with Books House

London’s litterati squeezed  into Woburn Walk’s To Hell with Books for a night of air kisses, Becks from a bucket, and a fresh new take on the concept of personal space. David stood on a stool because he’s a raging egomaniac (actually, we just wanted to see him better – only a couple To Hell With operatives had the gall to stand on the sofa like a gaggle of teenage fangirls).

He read “It’s All Yours,” a story shortlisted for the Sunday Times Short Story Award, and part of “Ketchikan,” from Legend of a Suicide.

Florence Welch stopped by to steal one of our event posters. Not a big deal.