The Mermaid of Black Conch by UEA graduate Monique Roffey has been shortlisted for the 2021 Republic of Consciousness Prize, which rewards books published by independent presses. The novel was published last year by Peepal Tree Press, which will receive £1,000. Monique graduated from the English Literature BA programme at UEA in 1987. Her first novel Sun Dog was published in 2002. The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, published in 2009, was shortlisted for the 2010 Orange Prize and the 2011 Encore Prize. Archipelago, published in 2012, won the OCM BOCAS prize for Caribbean Literature in 2013, while House of Ashes was shortlisted for both the Costa Fiction Award and the OCM BOCAS prize. The Mermaid of Black Conch won the 2020 Costa Book Award and was shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize. It is currently also longlisted for this year’s OCM BOCAS prize. Another UEA alumnus, Alex Pheby, was longlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Mordew, which published by Galley Beggar Press.
Monique Roffey shortlisted for Republic of Consciousness Prize
