The Bee Sting by UEA alumnus Paul Murray has been chosen as a finalist for the Kirkus Prize in the Fiction category. Paul (pictured) graduated from the UEA MA in Creative Writing (Prose Fiction) in 2001. He published his first novel An Evening of Long Goodbyes in 2003. This was shortlisted for the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Kerry Irish Fiction Award. His second novel Skippy Dies was published in 2009 and was nominated for numerous awards, including the Costa Novel Award, the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Writing, and (in the United States) the National Book Critics Circle Award. It was also longlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize. His third novel The Mark and the Void was published in 2015 and was the co-winner of the 2016 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction. The Bee Sting is also currently shortlisted for The Booker Prize. The Kirkus Prize winners will be announced on 11 October.
Paul Murray named Kirkus Prize Fiction Finalist
