View all newsletters
Sign up to our newsletters

Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Culture
10 January 2012updated 12 Oct 2023 10:15am

Axes to grind

Leo Robson makes the inaugural Hatchet Job Of The Year Award shortlist

By Sophie Elmhirst

A new literary award is born, as if the world needed another. Though this one, at least, is a little different in tone. Review aggregator website The Omnivore has just released its inaugural Hatchet Job Of The Year Award shortlist. Call it cruel, or a witty intervention on the literary landscape (the prize is a year’s supply of potted shrimp courtesy of The Fish Society) it is certainly well poised to garner attention. Not least thanks to the collection of reviewers (and harshly reviewed books) on its shortlist, which includes Geoff Dyer’s careful dissection of Julian Barnes’s Booker winner, The Sense of an Ending, and Leo Robson’s New Statesman review of Richard Bradford’s biography of Martin Amis (read it here). Call me soft, but I can’t help feeling bad for the reviewed authors, as years of work wins them recognition only for how their book inspired a top-notch mauling. But as a celebration of “integrity and wit in literary journalism” – two things often lacking in the review pages of the national press – the initiative should be applauded.

The shortlist in full:

– Mary Beard on Rome by Robert Hughes, Guardian

– Geoff Dyer on The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, New York Times

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

– Camilla Long on With the Kisses of His Mouth by Monique Roffey, Sunday Times

– Lachlan Mackinnon on Clavics by Geoffrey Hill, Independent

– Adam Mars-Jones on By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham, Observer

– Leo Robson on Martin Amis: The Biography by Richard Bradford, New Statesman

– Jenni Russell on Honey Money: The Power of Erotic Capital by Catherine Hakim, Sunday Times

– David Sexton on The Bees by Carol Ann Duffy, London Evening Standard

 

 

 

Content from our partners
The promise of prevention
How Labour hopes to make the UK a leader in green energy
Is now the time to rethink health and care for older people? With Age UK

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU