Eight authors selected for Gladstone’s Library Writer in Residence 2024 shortlist

Eight authors have been selected for the Gladstone’s Library Writer in Residence 2024 shortlist.

Poets, novelists and non-fiction writers are among those in the running to become Writers in Residence at the Victorian library in Hawarden, Flintshire, in 2024.

The Library, founded by William Ewart Gladstone in the late 1800s, hosts an annual program allowing selected writers to live and write at the Library for up to a month.

The residencies, supported by a kind donor, include accommodation in one of the Library’s 26 bedrooms, access to the Reading Rooms, and three meals a day at Food for Thought, the on-site restaurant.

Louisa Yates, Director of Collections and Research at the Library, said: “The Writers in Residence scheme, which has been running since 2011, was set up by then warden Peter Francis and trustee Damian Barr, the author of Maggie and Me and the creator of Damian Barr’s Literary Salon, to support writers who needed the time and space to be creative.

“There’s a common misconception that it’s plain sailing for writers who have secured a publishing contract or had a book out, but actually, it’s increasingly difficult for authors – even traditionally published authors – to make a living and carve out time to write. That’s where the residencies come in.”

The books submitted by the eight shortlisted authors will now be considered by a judging panel made up of Louisa Yates, Andrea Russell, Warden of the Library, Freddie Baveystock, former Trustee of the Library, travelogue writer Guy Stagg (The Crossway) and Hanan Issa, National Poet of Wales and author of My Body Can House Two Hearts.

Andrea Russell said: “We’re very proud to support writers at different stages of their careers, and the Writers in Residence scheme is a key part of that.

“It’s a joy to meet the authors who stay here, and I’m very much looking forward to hearing from the judging panel.”