After several months of reading and re-reading from the highest amount of submissions yet and an incredible shortlist, the judges of the Green Carnation Prize were unanimous in selecting Anneliese Mackintosh’s Any Other Mouth’ as the winner of the 2014 prize, now in association with Foyles.
Chair of the judges for 2014, journalist Kaite Welsh has said of Any Other Mouth “Choosing a winner out of such an excellent shortlist should have been difficult, but we were all unanimous in loving Any Other Mouth, a raw, uncompromising debut by Annaliese Mackintosh that defies categorization. It isn’t quite a short story collection or a novel and, as she tells us at the very beginning, it’s only almost a memoir. In the end, the only category Any Other Mouth fits neatly into is the one of very, very good books. It stood out on a first reading for everyone, and we found that every conversation we had kept circling back to it. Grief, sex, family, growing up – there’s no theme here that isn’t universal, but in Annaliese’s hands they seem painfully personal. Rarely does a memoir or a short story collection bring you into the mind of the author quite so intimately. We were all struck by how skillfully Annaliese drew the fragments of her story together – it’s a masterclass in storytelling through non-linear narrative. This year’s shortlist is an exciting mix of emerging voices and established talent. The diversity of genre and styles on display show what an exciting time it is for queer literature.”
Simon Heafield, Marketing Manager for the prize’s partner Foyles, said “We’re thrilled that Anneliese Mackintosh has won, out of such a strong and diverse shortlist. This is a book that straddles the genres of fiction, memoir and short stories with great aplomb, and its winning the prize provides us with a great chance to put the book into the hands of more customers and help give such a talented writer the readership she clearly deserves.”
The Green Carnation Prize is a prize awarded to LGBT writers for any form of the written word, from memoir to fiction, poetry to non-fiction between October 2013 and September 2014. This year has seen the growth of the prize, to encompass works of translation, which only can be encouraged by a partnership with Foyles. The partnership will see Foyles offer event space in their new flagship store, with public events celebrating the prize to follow in Spring 2015 when plans for next years prize will also be announced.
We will see you all in the spring, for updates on the prize please follow @TheGCPrize on Twitter.