Guardian First Book Award 2015 naar dichter Andrew McMillan voor Physical

De Guardian First Book Award wordt elk jaar uitgereikt aan de schrijver van het beste Engelstalige debuut - in welk genre dan ook. Eerder wonnen onder meer Colin Barret (2014), Donal Ryan (2013), Kevin Powers (2012), Siddharta Mukherjee (2011), Robert Macfarlane (2003) en Jonathan Safran Foer (2002) de prijs. Uit het begeleidende stuk van The Guardian:

Physical explores the anxieties of modern man, reaching out from the experiences of gay men wrestling with their emotions and each others’ bodies to chart the gaps between appearance and reality in contemporary culture. “Strongman” describes bench-pressing a young nephew, lifting him towards the artex ceiling “because / what is masculinity if not taking the weight / of a boy and straining it from oneself?”. “The Fact We Almost Killed a Badger Is Incidental” paints a relationship falling apart because “I still could not have sat through one more night of silence”. “The Men Are Weeping in the Gym” imagines men “swearing that the wetness / on their cheeks is perspiration / that the words they mutter as they lift / are meaningless”.

Dit was de shortlist:

• Diane Cook, Man v Nature
• Andrew McMillan, Physical
• Chigozie Obioma, The Fishermen
• Peter Pomerantsev, Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible
• Max Porter, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers
• Sara Taylor, The Shore