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NEW authors and independent presses have lost out, as the The 2025 Booker Prize shortlist heavily features books by mainstream publishing houses. From 153 submissions, six were shortlisted – none from debut authors – and five of those came from mainstream publishing houses. Chair of the 2025 prize, Roddy Doyle (Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha) […]

As more than 500 crime fiction fans descended on the Playhouse, Whitley Bay for Bay Tales 2025, Spark‘s Eleanor Tait spoke to award-winning author of the Vera and Shetland book series, Ann Cleeves, about the writer she’s supporting at this year’s festival.