Paul Torday published his first novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen aged 60.
The family set up this new prize in his memory, celebrating first novels by authors aged 60 or over.
The winner will receive £3,000, with a set of Paul Torday’s collected works. Runners-up will receive £1,000 and one specially selected Paul Torday novel with a commemorative book plate.
The prize is indebted to the Hawthornden Literary Retreat for their generous support and to W & N Fiction for generously providing the books.
The prize was announced in 2018 by Piers and Nick Torday, sons of novelist Paul Torday (1946-2013) with a message both to the publishing industry and the public that ‘it truly is never too late to follow your dream’ and to show that ‘writing could be a wonderful second career for many more with a life of well-lived experience to call upon’.
Torday’s own successful writing career only began when he entered semi-retirement and in 2006 published his first best-selling novel, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, at the age of 60.
This Year's Judges
The 2023 prize judges were Rasheda Ashanti Malcolm, Kathy O’Shaughnessy and Andrew Taylor.
Rasheda Ashanti Malcolm
Rasheda Ashanti Malcolm is a writer, novelist, journalist, radio presenter and speaker, with a background in gender-based violence and domestic abuse. Her first novel, Swimming With Fishes was published in 2017 and her second, Love Again, in 2020.... Rasheda Ashanti Malcolm is a writer, novelist, journalist, radio presenter and speaker, with a background in gender-based violence and domestic abuse. Her first novel, Swimming With Fishes was published in 2017 and her second, Love Again, in 2020.More
Kathy O’Shaughnessy
Kathy O’Shaughnessy has reviewed books for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times, Financial Times, Independent, The Observer, TLS, New Statesman, The Spectator, and others... Kathy O’Shaughnessy has reviewed books for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times, Financial Times, Independent, The Observer, TLS, New Statesman, The Spectator, and others. She has worked as Deputy Editor on the Literary Review, Arts & Books Editor of Vogue, Literary Editor of The European, and Deputy Editor of The Telegraph Arts & Books. Her stories have been published in Faber’s First Fictions, and she edited and introduced Drago Stambuk’s poems, Incompatible Animals. Her novel In Love With George Eliot won the Paul Torday Memorial Prize 2021.More
Andrew Taylor
Andrew is a bestselling crime and historical novelist, and the winner of the Diamond Dagger of the Crime Writers Association, the Gold Crown of the Historical Writers Association and many other awards.... Andrew is a bestselling crime and historical novelist, and the winner of the Diamond Dagger of the Crime Writers Association, the Gold Crown of the Historical Writers Association and many other awards. He has written nearly fifty books, three of which have been televised.More
This Year's Shortlist
The shortlist for the Paul Torday Memorial Prize 2023 is:
Tony Curtis for Darkness in the City of Light (Seren Books)
Jonathan Franklin for Red Road Green (Sparsile Books Ltd)
Bonnie Garmus for Lessons in Chemistry (Doubleday, Penguin Random House)
Julie Owen Moylan for That Green Eyed Girl(Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House)
Reverend Richard Coles for Murder Before Evensong (Weidenfeld & Nicholson)
Judge Kathy O’Shaughnessy said:
‘From historical novels to thrillers to romance, the novels on this shortlist were wonderfully varied. It was a pleasure to see such excellent writing, whether set in the Amazon or a local English village, or 1950s America, or Paris in the war. Each book showed a true writer’s commitment to making the subject come alive, and compellingly pulled this reader forward.’
The 2023 Prize winner: Bonnie Garmus
Bonnie Garmus is a copywriter and creative director who has worked widely in the fields of technology, medicine, and education. She is an open-water swimmer, a rower, and mother to two wonderful daughters. Born in California and most recently from Seattle, she currently lives in London with her husband and her dog, 99. Her first novel, Lessons in Chemistry is a No.1 Sunday Times, New York Times and international bestseller. It has been translated into over forty territories and is being adapted as an Apple TV series starring Brie Larson.
Paul Torday Memorial Prize judge Andrew Taylor said:
It’s difficult to believe that Lessons in Chemistry is Bonnie Garmus’s first novel. Her central character, Elizabeth Zott, springs off the page and confronts us with such wit and authority that she seems always to have existed somewhere between Southern California and the land of wishful thinking. Zott takes the starring role in this delicious tale of the proto-feminist revenge.
PAUL TORDAY MEMORIAL PRIZE RUNNER-UP: JULIE OWEN MOYLAN FOR THAT GREEN EYED GIRL (MICHAEL JOSEPH, PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE) AWARDED £1,000
Julie Owen Moylan was born in Cardiff and has worked in a variety of jobs, from trainee hairdresser and chip shop attendant at sixteen to business management consultant and college lecturer in her thirties. She then returned to education to complete her Master’s degree in Film before going on to complete a further Master’s degree in Creative Writing. Julie is an alumna of the Faber Academy’s Writing a Novel course. She lives in Cardiff with her husband and two cats. Her debut novel, That Green Eyed Girl, received widespread critical acclaim. Her second novel, 73 Dove Street, will publish in Hardback in July 2023.
THE PAUL TORDAY PRIZE 2024 IS NOW OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS
Paul Torday published his first novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen aged 60. The family decided to set up this new prize in Paul’s honour, celebrating first novels by authors aged 60 or over.
The winner will receive £3,000, with a set of Paul Torday’s collected works. Runners-up will receive £1,000 and one specially selected Paul Torday novel with a commemorative book plate. The prize is indebted to W & N Fiction for generously providing these books by Paul Torday.
The 2024 Paul Torday Prize will close for submissions on 30 November 2023.
Judge Kathy O’Shaughnessy said: