Aharon Appelfeld scoops Independent foreign fiction prize

Inspired by his experiences during the Holocaust, a novel by the 80-year-old Israeli author Aharon Appelfeld has won the Independent foreign fiction prize. Blooms of Darkness is loosely based on his childhood during the second world war. The author was deported to a labour camp at Transnistria at the age of seven, later escaping and ending up in Palestine in 1946, aged 14. Although the author grew up speaking German, he chooses to write instead in the Hebrew he learned from the age of 14, calling German "the language of the murderers"

Karen Russell's 'Swamplandia!' wins New York Public Library's Young Lions award

Karen Russell's 'Swamplandia!' wins New York Public Library's Young Lions award. The prize, which has been awarded annually since 2001 to a writer under 35, comes with a $10,000 pot. Russell is 30 years old.

2012 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award longlist

2012 marks the eighth year of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. The award, run in partnership with Asda and in association with the Daily Mirror, was created to celebrate the very best in crime writing and is open to British and Irish authors whose novels were published in paperback over the previous twelve months. Crime writing's most wanted accolade, the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, returns to highlight the cream of the crop of crime novels published by British and Irish authors over the last year.The winning author receives a cash prize of £3000 an a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakstons Old Peculier. 2012 longlist:

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (Gollancz)
Darkside by Belinda Bauer (Corgi)
Now You See Me by SJ Bolton (Corgi)
Where the Bodies Are Buried by Chris Brookmyre (Abacus)
The Burning Soul by John Connolly (Hodder Paperback)
The Calling by Neil Cross (Simon & Schuster)
The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris (Corvus)
Bryant and May and the Memory of Blood by Christopher Fowler (Bantam)
Blue Monday by Nicci French (Michael Joseph)
The Fear Index by Robert Harris (Arrow)
The Retribution by Val McDermid (Sphere)
The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina (Orion)
Black Flowers by Steve Mosby (Orion)
Collusion by Stuart Neville (Vintage)
The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin (Orion)
Mice by Gordon Reece (Pan Books)
Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith (Simon & Schuster)
Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson (Black Swan)

2012 Shortlist Announcement and Readers’ Online Vote
The names of the six shortlisted titles will be announced on Thursday 5 July 2012 and YOU – the readers – will be able to help decide which of the six short-listed authors will take home the most coveted title in crime fiction, by casting your vote online at www.theakstons.co.uk. The result of the online vote will be counted alongside the votes of the expert judging panel in order to determine the 2012 winner

Wolfson History Prize (2011) winners

The winners of the Wolfson History Prizes in 2011, awarded at a reception and dinner on 8 May 2012, were:

Mrs Susie Harries for Nikolaus Pevsner: The Life (Chatto & Windus)

Professor Alexandra Walsham for The Reformation of the Landscape (Oxford University Press)

The winners received £25,000 each. The judges were Sir Keith Thomas FBA (Chairman), Professor Sir David Cannadine FBA FSA FRSL, Professor Richard Evans FBA, and Professor Julia Smith FRSE. The Wolfson History Prize, established in 1972, is awarded annually to promote and encourage standards of excellence in the writing of history for the general reading public

Hilary Mantel introduces Bring up the Bodies

Hilary Mantel talks about her new book Bring up the Bodies, the sequel to the Man Booker prize-winning Wolf Hall. The story of Thomas Cromwell continues. In the final days of Anne Boleyn, no one is left unscathed ...Bring up the Bodies will be published May 10th 2012 by Fourth Estate

The Wales Book of the Year Award 2012 short list

The short list for The Wales Book of the Year Award 2012 has been announced

Book Review: The Secret History Of Our Streets - London

It's pretty much impossible to get a thorough handle on the vast social history of London. Unless you're Roy Porter. And you're not, because he's sadly no longer with us. It's much easier, however, to grasp the ups and downs of an individual street. Such is the hunch of this new book, to accompany a forthcoming BBC2 series. Authors Joseph Bullman, Neil Hegarty and Brian Hill investigate six London roads: Reverdy Road in Bermondsey, Deptford High Street, Arnold Circus in Shoreditch, Caledonian Road in Islington, Portland Road near Notting Hill and Camberwell Grove