Scottish author and journalist Cal Flyn has been named winner of the 2021 Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Trust Young Writer of the Year Award for her eerie yet ultimately optimistic account of ecological diversity, Islands of Abandonment.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the UK’s most influential prize for young writers has for three decades been a definitive indicator of rising literary talent in Britain and Ireland, recognising such names as Zadie Smith, Simon Armitage, Max Porter and Sally Rooney in the early stages of their careers. Today, Cal Flyn joins that legacy for her impressive work Islands of Abandonment, which was previously shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize and the Wainwright Conservation Award. It is a book about abandoned places: ghost towns and exclusion zones, no man’s lands and fortress islands – and what happens when nature is allowed to reclaim its place.

The announcement was made on 24 February in the Library's Reading Room, in a warmly celebrated return to in-person prize ceremonies. The event was hosted by The Sunday Times’ Literary Editor Andrew Holgate, alongside 2021 judges Andrew O’Hagan, Tahmima Anam, Claire Lowdon and Gonzalo C. Garcia, as well as Chair of the Charlotte Aitken Trust, novelist Sebastian Faulks.

As well as hosting the event, we are also pleased to be offering a year of Library membership to the shortlisted writers and two years of membership for Cal Flyn.

Due to the Met office’s red warning for London and the South East the Library will be closed on Friday 18 February to ensure the safety of our staff and members.

We expect to be open as usual on Saturday 19 February. In the meantime members can make use of our electronic resources, Catalyst and eBooks as well as the online events on our website.

Administered by the Society of Authors, the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Trust Young Writer of the Year Award works with a growing network of partners to provide a critical support system to the very best talent at work right now. We are pleased to have partnered with the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Trust Young Writer of the Year Award, offering two years’ Library membership to the winner as well as a year’s membership for the shortlist.

The award is given annually to the best work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by a British or Irish author of 35 or under. It finds and celebrates authors of the highest quality at the beginning of their careers; the award’s alumni list reads like a Who’s Who of modern British and Irish literature over the last 30 years, from Zadie Smith and Sarah Waters to poet laureate Simon Armitage and Robert Macfarlane. The 2021 winner will join Jay Bernard (2020), Raymond Antrobus (2019), Adam Weymouth (2018), Sally Rooney (2017), Max Porter (2016) and Sarah Howe (2015) on the impressive list of recent alumni.

Following a digital edition last year, The London Library returns as a host for the ceremony and the 2021 winner will be announced at the Library on 24 February 2022. In the mean time you can read about the amazing writers who have been shortlisted here https://www.youngwriteraward.com/2021-shortlist-revealed/

Over the weekend (15-16 January) there was no access to the Library's electronic resources for members, unless you were physically in the Library building. Our IT Support worked to restore access and has identified the problem, which lay with the authentication and access software provided by an external company.  

We apologise for the inconvenience caused by this temporary loss of access, and are pleased to share that our eResources are all now available once more. Thank you for your patience as we worked to resolve this issue. 

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