Clear has won the 2025 Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize. More here
I'm delighted to be joining 13 other Fellows at Columbia University's Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris from September 2025 to May 2026 to work on my new book. Find more information and a full list of Fellows here
Clear has been shortlisted for the 2025 Wales Book of the Year - more here
Clear is one of 15 books longlisted for the 2025 Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize, awarded annually to 'a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place.'
See the full longlist here
I will be in conversation with my Dutch translator, Nicolette Hoekmeijer, and bookseller Reny vd Kamp at the wonderful Athenaeum Bookshop in Spui Square, Amsterdam, on Thursday April 17th at 5.30pm. Tickets are free, you can register here
Clear is one of 12 books longlisted for the 2025 Europese Literatuurprijs which is awarded annually 'for the best contemporary European novel published in Dutch translation in the past year.'
See the full longlist here
Clear is one of six books shortlisted for this year's Winston Graham Prize. Established in Cornwall in memory of the creator of the Poldark books, the prize is awarded annually to a historical novel 'set in the UK and Ireland with a powerful sense of place.' See the shortlist here
Elizabeth O'Connor and I will be talking about our novels Whale Fall and Clear at Hexham Book Festival on Saturday, May 10th at 5.30pm. Tickets here
I'll be talking about Clear at Monty Lit Fest on Saturday June 7th at 11am. Tickets here
Clear is Waterstones' Welsh and Scottish Book of the Month for March. The link is here
Clear is one of five Finalists for Historical Fiction Book of the Year in the 2025 Libby Book Awards. The Awards’ panel of 1100 US librarians says it has picked books which have ‘captivated communities across the country.’
See the Finalists in all categories here
Waterstones, Perth 6pm March 12th. Tickets here
Waterstones, Birmingham 6.30 pm March 25th. Tickets here
Book-ish, Crickhowell 7.30pm March 26th. Tickets here
I'll be in conversation about Clear and The Mission House at Winchester Cathedral on Saturday March 1st at 10am. Tickets here.
See the full list of books here
See the full list of books here
Editors at The Globe and Mail (Canada) have chosen their favourite books of 2024 here
The Washington Post's list of 50 Notable Works of Fiction published this year is here
The Washington Post's list of its Top 10 Audiobooks of 2024 is here
Poet Niall Campbell, novelist Carys Davies, and documentary filmmaker Duncan Cowles talk to Len Pennie on The Arts Mix, mostly about men. Listen here
Daunt Books have picked their favourite books of 2024 here
Amazon editors have picked their favourite books of 2024 here
The Dutch edition of Clear is out now with this beautiful cover from Meulenhoff, translated by the brilliant Nicolette Hoekmeijer.
See the full list of Waterstones Best Books of 2024 here
See the shortlist for the Saltire Awards here
You can tune into my conversation with Jim Naughtie and readers about The Mission House on November 3rd at 4pm. Here is the link
The Blackwell’s list is made up of nine books in three categories - fiction, non-fiction and children's. Clear joins Alan Hollinghurst's Our Evenings and Andrew O'Hagan's Caledonian Road on the fiction list. See the list here
See the full list of 25 fiction titles here
November 22nd-24th, Freemantle. I'll be talking about stories and novels over Zoom on Saturday November 23rd at 11am GMT. Programme and tickets here
I'm delighted Clear has been shortlisted for this alongwith books by Kaveh Akbar, Ferdia Lennon and David Nicholls. There's more here about The Readers Awards, which — uniquely in the UK —are curated by booksellers.
I'm thrilled that Clear is the winner of the Bookmark Festival 2024 Book of the Year. More here
See the longlist for the 2024 Saltire Awards here
See the longlist for the HWA Gold Crown Award by the HIstorical Writers' Association magazine Historia here
I'm looking forward very much to talking about Clear on Saturday September 28th at 3pm in Scotland's 'book town'. Tickets here
Charlotte Wood and I will be talking to Di Speirs about our latest novels, Stone Yard Devotional and Clear at the Edinburgh Book Festival on Friday August 16th at 12.45 pm. Tickets here
On Thursday July 25th I’ll be in conversation about Clear with Reny van der Kamp at the wonderful Athenaeum Bookshop in Amsterdam. Doors open at 5.30 PM, details here
See the full list of NPR editors’ favourite books of 2024 here
Clear joins 19 other books on this list from Amazon—see all the books here
The Irish Times recommends 15 new audiobooks for the summer, including Clear, read by the excellent Russ Bain. See the full list here (£)
Delighted to see Clear, along with Long Island by Colm Tóibín, James by Percival Everett and Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange, in the category Four Works of Literary Fiction We Didn’t Want to End.
See the other categories here
Every month AudioFile magazine publishes its list of the month’s best audiobooks—so pleased to see Russ Bain’s beautiful reading of Clear in its picks for May:
‘Russ Bain flawlessly presents Carys Davies’s novel featuring three extraordinary, believable characters in 1840s Scotland.’
More here
Clear will be published this August in Germany as Ein Klarer Tag, in this beautiful edition from Luchterhand, translated by Eva Bonné.
I talked to Miwa Messer about Clear and other things for the Barnes & Noble Poured Over podcast - you can listen here
I talked to NPR's Scott Simon about Clear on Weekend Edition - listen here
I'll be in conversation about Clear at Topping's book shop in Edinburgh on May 8th at 7.30pm. Tickets here
On Sunday March 24th at 4pm I'll be talking to Johny Pitts about Clear on BBC Radio 4's Open Book. Details here
I’ll be in conversation at Hay on May 26th at 2.30 pm with Francis Spufford. We’ll be discussing Clear and Cahokia Jazz. Tickets here
I'm very much looking forward to this conversation on Friday May 24th at 6pm. It's a City of Literature event run by the National Centre For Writing and Norfolk and Norwich Festival, and we'll be talking about solitary landscapes and the longing for connection, even when words fail us. Tickets here.
Clear has been chosen by American booksellers for April's Indie Next List. You can see the list here
You can listen to Zoe Ball’s BBC Radio 2 Book Club podcast about Clear here
Portobello Bookshop, Edinburgh: Tuesday March 5th
Foyles, London: Wednesday March 6th
Storysmith, Bristol: Wednesday March 13th
Topping, Bath: Thursday March 14th
Daunt, Marylebone, London: Friday March 15th
Oxford Literary Festival: Sunday March 17th
‘A deft and graceful yarn about language, love, and rebellion against the inhumane forces of history.’
Read the full review here
Clear has been picked by Zoe Ball for her BBC Radio 2 Book Club. More here
I'm delighted to see Clear on this list of books coming out this year. Read about all of them here (£)
'Perceptive and beautiful... This is divine.'
Read the full review here
I've reviewed Victoria Kielland's new novel My Men, translated from the Norwegian by Damion Searls, in The Guardian.
The Sunday Times' chief fiction critic Peter Kemp picks his best novels and stories about travel from the past 60 years (£).
Skios Michael Frayn
The Mission House Carys Davies
Hunters in the Dark Lawrence Osborne
The Two Faces of January Patricia Highsmith
Cross Channel Julian Barnes
The Mandelbaum Gate Muriel Spark
Bodily Harm Margaret Atwood
Golden HIll Francis Spufford
Foreign Affairs Alison Lurie
Haroun and the Sea of Stories Salman Rushdie
I'm delighted to say my new novel Clear will be coming out next spring from Granta in the UK and Scribner in the US - more details here in The Bookseller
I'll be in conversation with David Constantine and Sarah Harte on Tuesday April 18th at 7pm for the launch of the nineteenth Cork World Book Festival in Ireland. You can book for this and other events with Sarah Baume, Joseph O'Connor and more here
Sophie Raworth and Patrick Ness choose three books which ‘take on early colonialism on two different continents, in West by Carys Davies and Remembering Babylon by David Malouf respectively, and Patrick’s choice of Howard’s End by EM Forster.’
The piece aired on Tuesday March 14th at 16.30. It is available on BBC iPlayer here.
Andrew Holgate, who is stepping down after 23 years as literary editor of The Sunday Times, has picked his favourite books — I’m so delighted to see West among them.
The full list is here (£)
I’ll be in conversation online with the novelist, short story writer and poet, David Constantine, on Wednesday November 16th at 7pm. We’ll be talking about the passions that drive our work, and the principles we believe to be the foundations of great literature.
Full programme and tickets here
October 4: Jon McGregor on beginnings
October 18: Wendy Erskine on character
October 25: Kit de Waal on editing your own work
November 1: Chris Power on detail
November 8: Carys Davies on point of view
November 15: Tessa Hadley on time
You can book here
My short story collection The Redemption of Galen Pike, first published in 2014, has been re-issued with this beautiful new cover, designed by Christopher Hamilton-Emery.
I loved being on the panel of 16 authors and critics tasked with picking the finest English language novels published since Joyce’s classic. Each of us nominated 20 novels, and you can read about those that made the final cut here.
I’m delighted to have been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. See the full list of new Fellows in The Guardian.
La Missione is coming out in Italy on June 29th, from Bompiani.
This will be out on April 8th from Editions du Seuil with the title Le Voyage de Hilary Byrd.
Friday October 8th - Sunday October 10th 2021, 18:00 BST Online
Five short, sharp workshops and a one-on-one session with each tutor, plus a chance to ask your own technical questions of them in an evening open hour.
More details and booking here
See the full list of 50 fiction and 50 non-fiction books in The Times here and The Sunday Times here
Scottish: Andrew O’Hagan Mayflies
Welsh: Carys Davies The Mission House
Irish: Caoilinn Hughes The Wild Laughter
More on Waterstones June Books of the Month here
The Sunday Times Short Story Award invites writers to talk about their favourite short stories - I was thrilled to hear Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory and Circus of Wonders, talking here about The Travellers, from my collection The Redemption of Galen Pike.
I’m delighted to be joining the Aldeburgh Bookshop Book Club via Zoom on Monday July 12th at 6pm for a discussion of The Mission House. Booking information here.
The paperback of The Mission House - out on June 3rd - is the Sunday Times Paperback of the Week.
More here (£)
20 novels translated from nine different languages into Dutch are longlisted for this year’s prize. Click here for the list of titles, authors and translators. Shortlist announced in June.
I’m delighted to be talking about The Mission House to the prize-winning novelist, poet and short story writer Caoilinn Hughes next Friday, April 16th, 12.00-13.00 CT, 18.00-19.00 GMT. It’s the first in her new online series of bi-monthly interviews with UK and Irish writers for the Chicago-based bookshop, Exile In Bookville. Tickets here
‘A singular voice… Davies’ writing is sublime’ —Toronto Star
Full review here
The 18th International Ankara Story Days festival will be held online this year between March 1-15, 2021. I’ll be talking to Pelin Buzluk about the stories in Kuytu (The Redemption of Galen Pike) on March 12th at 17.00 GMT. Full programme here
‘The Mission House is a careful, quiet, skillful drama of well-meant misunderstandings and cultural divisions. The interactions are polite and repressed, but the story is galvanized by the “passion simmering under the surface of things. Always, every once in a while, the lid blowing off, and nothing, it seemed, that anyone could do to stop it happening”’ —The Wall Street Journal
Full review here (£)
Guest host David Sedaris presents three stories about recollection and redemption as part of WNYC Radio’s Selected Shorts series. In Sibyl by Carys Davies, read by Jane Kaczmarek, two lonely vacationers are brought together. Andre Braugher performs an excerpt from Toni Morrison’s master work, Beloved. And a daughter returns home to help her aging father in an excerpt from Rachel Khong’s bittersweet novel Goodbye, Vitamin, performed by Jennifer Ikeda
Read more about Selected Shorts here
The National Centre For Writing in Norwich has put together another of its excellent online packs for writers. I joined four other writers to talk about dialogue here
My very grateful thanks to my editor, Sarah Goldberg, and to all at Scribner.
The Mission House - Het Missie Huis - is out today in the Netherlands, translated into Dutch by the brilliant Nicolette Hoekmeijer. Huge thanks to Nicolette and to all at Meulenhoff
Link to the book here
O, The Oprah Magazine has picked its 20 Best Books To Fall In Love With this month and describes The Mission House as ‘luminous… an elegant tale that probes the jagged shadows of colonialism. Davies is a writer to watch—and to savor’
Full article here
My essay for Lit Hub on the storming of the Capitol, Brexit, and the rise of Hindu nationalism is here
The UK paperback edition of The Mission House will be out in June from Granta with this beautiful new cover
‘Lightly yet deftly crafted, hovering in tone somewhere between comedy, tragedy, and fable.'
Full review here
'Part mystery, part romance, this charming story is set in the present but has the feel of an earlier time.’
Full review here
I’m absolutely delighted that The Mission House has been chosen as The Sunday Times Novel of the Year. More here
‘Beautifully done, with the same resonant concision as Carys Davies’s fine first novel West, it’s a haunting picture of colonialism’s long legacy.'
The first US review of The Mission House is out:
‘Stunning... Davies’s masterly elegy is not to be missed.’
Full review here
The Mission House joins nine other books—a mix of fiction and non-fiction—on this list in The Sunday Times. See all 10 titles here
The Mission House is coming out in North America with Scribner in February 2021 - jacket design by Lauren Peters-Collaer
You can watch my events from #CheltLitFest on-demand by subscribing to the #CheltLitFest Player. For £20, you can watch over 120 events from the Festival until 31 December 2020.
Subscribe here
The Mission House is The Sydney Morning Herald’s Fiction Pick of the Week
On Wednesday September 30th I’ll be reading my short story Sybil at the Wigtown Book Festival for their afternoon ’Tea & Words’ series of live-streamed stories, poetry and essays. It’s ticketed but free - you can book here and browse other ‘Tea & Words’ readings with Kevin Barry, AL Kennedy, Alycia Pirmohamed, Inua Ellams and Chitra Ramaswamy.
This new question-and-answer series about reading has just started at Wales Arts Review - you can read my contribution here
Rachel Joyce and I will be talking about our new novels, Miss Benson’s Beetle and The Mission House on October 8th, and I’ll be discussing the power of the short story the next day, October 9th, with Niamh Campbell, Jennifer Nansubga Makumbi and Sunday Times literary editor, Andrew Holgate. Tickets and the full programme are here
I so enjoyed talking to Simon and Louise Savidge as part of Savidge Reads' recent series of Bookish Chats on Instagram, along with Robbie Arnott, Jessie Burton and Bernadine Evaristo. You can watch our conversation here.
I talked to Mariella Frostrup the other day about The Mission House on her new Times Radio show. You can listen from 01:50:15 here
I’m looking forward very much to talking to Chris Power about The Mission House on BBC Radio 4’s Open Book. The show airs on Sunday August 9th at 4pm and Thursday 13th at 3.30pm- more information here
Many congratulations to Niamh Campbell for winning this year's Sunday Times Audible Short StoryAward for her beautiful story Love Many. You can watch my fellow judge David Nicholls talking about Niamh’s story here
With bookshops now re-opening in Scotland, I’m looking forward to going to the excellent Topping in St Andrews on Monday October 19th (re-scheduled from September 23rd) to talk about The Mission House. Doors open at 7.40pm - tickets here
Congratulations to the six writers shortlisted for the 2020 prize: Niamh Campbell, Louise Kennedy, Daniel O’Malley, Namwali Serpell, Alexia Tolas, and Shawn Vestal. More here on the writers and their stories
I’ve written a short ‘behind-the-scenes’ piece here on judging the award
I really enjoyed talking about writing short stories and novels to Peggy Hughes, Programme Director at the Norwich Writers’ Centre, for Wigtown Book Festival’s new books podcast series:
https://www.wigtownbookfestival.com/blog/podcast-ep-2-sara-maitland-carys-davis-robert-twigger
It’s been a great pleasure to be one of the judges for this year’s award and we’re delighted to announce the longlist. Congratulations to all the longlisted writers: Victor Lodato, Leo Cullen, Catherine Lacey, Marie-Helene Bertino, Alexis Tolas, Dizz Tate, Niamh Campbell, Daniel O’Malley, Edward Hogan, Louise Kennedy, Shawn Vestal, Roddy Doyle, Joseph O’Neill, Mel O’Doherty, Max Sydney Smith, Dur e Aziz Amna and Namwali Serpell. You can read more about their stories here
The shortlist will be announced in June and the winner on July 2.
I’ve written an essay, here, for Wales Arts Review for their series When this is over: essays for a world without masks.
On Wednesday, February 19th at 7pm I’ll be in conversation about West with the Dutch novelist Jan van Mersbergen and the Donner Bookshop’s Hubert van Belois.
You can book here
I’ll be in conversation with Sebastian Barry about his new book A Thousand Moons – the follow-up to his Costa Award winning Days Without End – on Thursday 19th March 8:30pm – 9:30 pm at Daunt Books, Marylebone, in London. Tickets here.
My new novel The Mission House will be published by Granta in August 2020. A few more details here in The Sunday Times and here in The Guardian.
I’m delighted to be joining Diana Evans, Romesh Gunesekera, David Nicholls, and Sunday Times Literary Editor Andrew Holgate on the judging panel for this. Our longlist will be announced on May 3, the shortlist on June 7, and the winner on July 2.
Click here for more on the 2019 Society of Authors’ Awards
Click here for more on the 2019 Wales Book of the Year awards
For aspiring writers and book lovers alike, May 19th is a day of talks at the British Library on the art of the novel. A. L. Kennedy will host, with guests including Kate Clanchy, Owen Sheers, Louise Doughty, Chloe Aridjis, Francesca Beard, Joe Dunthorne and many others, including shortlisted writers of this year’s Rathbones Folio Prize.
It's been a great pleasure to be one of the judges for this and to be able to announce an outstanding shortlist:
The Coast of Leitrim – Kevin Barry
What Can You Do With A General – Emma Cline
Comme – Paul Dalla Rosa
All the Poems Contained Within Will Mean Everything to Everyone – Joe Dunthorne
In Silhouette – Louise Kennedy
A Partial List of the Saved – Danielle McLaughlin
Paperback editions of West will be out in the UK and US in early April.
On Sunday March 10th at 7pm Sarah Moss, author of Ghost Wall, and I will be talking about our books.
For tickets visit the festival website here.
Applications are open for The Word Factory's 2019-2020 Apprenticeship scheme. I'll be joining Lisa Blower, Chris Power and Leone Ross to mentor four emerging short story writers. How you apply depends on where you live, so check the Word Factory website here for details. Deadline February 7th.
Cynan Jones and I will be teaching this week-long course together in Devon Nov 25th-30th with Tessa Hadley as our visiting writer. You can book here.
This is just out from Yüz Kitap - you can buy it here.
I'm delighted The Sunday Times, The Guardian, and The Washington Independent Review of Books have picked West as one of their books of the year.
Vulture has published its list of the top 10 audiobooks of the year so far here.
I'll be in conversation with Danny Denton in Cork on September 12th, with Andrew Holgate in Cheltenham on October 13th, Katy Shaw and Sarah Moss in Manchester on October 14th, Jan Carson in Belfast on October 17th. Details here:
I'll be in conversation with Cathy Galvin about the Guillemot Factory's new limited edition series of short stories, and about the lure of the West. More info here.
I've reviewed Hernan Diaz's captivating debut novel in The Guardian here:
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
West by Carys Davies
Time Is a Killer by Michel Bussi
Mrs Whistler by Matthew Plampin
Lullaby by Leila Slimani
See the full list of 100 recommended books here.
I'm delighted to be appearing at this in Zagreb on May 28th and 29th and in Rijeka on May 30 and 31st. Full programme here.
It's been a great pleasure being one of the judges of the New York Public Library's 2018 Young Lions Fiction Award, which champions emerging writers. The winner will be announced on June 7th and chosen from among this year's finalists, who have just been announced.
I've written an essay for Granta on the importance of artistic failure. Follow this link to read it.
Some of my favourite visions of unfathomable territory, published here.
The wonderful Woodstock Bookshop is 10 years old and I'm delighted to be part of the celebrations on the evening of Friday May 11th. Social historian Julie Summers will be talking about her new book Uninvited Guests and I'll be talking about West.
I’ve written an essay about the nineteenth century’s fascination with woolly mammoths. Read it here.
See the full list of Society of Authors’ 2019 nominations here.
I'm so pleased to see West included in this list. Click here for the full list.
I've reviewed William Boyd's new novel in The Guardian here.
My novel, West, with this beautiful cover from Scribner, will be out in the U.S. in April 2018, just ahead of its publication in the U.K.
The Redemption of Galen Pike is a Women's National Book Association choice in the U.S. for its Great Group Reads 2017. Details and advice for reading groups here:
The Globe and Mail's editors and reviewers have compiled a list of their favourite hundred books of 2017 here.
The Redemption of Galen Pike is on the Toronto Star's list of the top 10 books of last year. See the full list here.
Thrilled that the Toronto Star has included West on their list of 20 forthcoming books to look out for. Take a look at the full list here.
I'm delighted to have a story in this new anthology celebrating the Fly's first twenty years. Edited by Declan Meade and Sarah Gilmartin, it collects 40 short stories first published in the magazine and includes fiction by Colin Barrett, Kevin Barry, Sara Baume, Claire-Louise Bennett, Claire Keegan, Molly McCloskey and Lisa McInerney. More details here.
As the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award winner is announced, the paper's Culture editors have picked their favourite tales - delighted to see them include The Quiet, from my collectionThe Redemption of Galen Pike
See the full list here.
On Sunday, April 22nd, at 4pm GMT I'll be talking about West with Mariella Frostrup. Full details here
I'll be joining Tim Winton and Paul Howarth to talk about our new novels, West, The Shepherd's Hut and Only Killers and Thieves. Tickets here.
You can read my essay on how the settlement of the American West can help us understand the nativism of Donald Trump here.
My new ultra short story Gospel is online at Granta - click here to read
My short story, Creed, is up at Electric Literature, with an introduction by David Constantine
A new story, The Testimonie of Alyss Teeg, is out in the summer issue of Ploughshares, guest edited by Claire Messud and James Wood.
I'm looking forward very much to going to Ireland in July, to Bantry, for the West Cork Literary Festival.
An Evening with Kevin Barry and Carys Davies will start at 8.30pm on Tuesday July 19th at the Maritime Hotel.
Joanna Walsh (Vertigo) and I will be reading from our collections and discussing the resurgence in popularity of the short story with Paul McVeigh, author of The Good Son and co-founder of the London Short Story festival.
I'm delighted to have my story, The Quiet, in the latest issue of the Australian magazine The Canary Press, beautifully illustrated by Melbourne based artist Samuel Lewis.
I will be in conversation with Professor Ruth Robbins of Leeds Beckett University as part of the university's (Re)Writing Yorkshire series.
On Thursday March 10th at 6pm I'll be reading and discussing short stories with Crista Ermiya, author of The Weather in Kansas, at the York Explore Library and Archive.
Readings are taking place throughout the world following a call from the International Literature Festival in Berlin to raise awareness of the plight of the Palestinian-born poet, Ashraf Fayadh, who is under sentence of death in Saudi Arabia, accused of apostasy and the promotion of atheism.
On Friday December 4th at 10 pm I'll be in conversation with host Ian McMillan, Julian Barnes, Marry Waterson and Frank McCabe on BBC Radio 3's The Verb.
Salt Publishing has joined forces with the excellent Galley Beggar Press to make a book about refugees: 11 stories by 11 authors. It costs £5. All proceeds will be directed to aid organisations on Kos.
I'm looking forward to appearing with Crista Ermiya and Stuart Evers on Saturday October 17th at Durham's Palace Green Library at 1pm. We'll all be reading from our new collections and discussing short stories with Claire Malcolm. For tickets visit here
Sarah Jessica Parker gave an interview on Girlboss Radio recently, and gave us a rundown of five books she's been enjoying. So pleased to see West and The Redemption of Galen Pike on there.
A lovely few days at the 2015 Cork International Short Story Festival - on stage here with Frank O'Connor's daughter Liadain O'Donovan.
I'll be appearing at this summer's London Short Story Festival (June 18-21) with Cynan Jones, Francesca Rhydderch and Rachel Trezise. We will be reading and discussing short stories with Wales Arts Review fiction editor John Lavin.
I will be in conversation about my novel West with Salvatore Scibona, the novelist and director of the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center, on Thursday May 3rd, 7-8 pm. Reservations here.
On Saturday April 28th at 7pm I'll be at the wonderful R.J. Julia bookstore in Madison, Connecticut, to talk about West - details here.
