Malc's Boy

Shaun Wilson was born in 1980 and raised in Wigton, Cumbria. In 2021, an early draftof Malc's Boy won a Northern Writers' Award, with an excerpt publishedby Granta in 2024. His work featured in Kit de Waal's working-classanthology Common People (Unbound, 2019), leading the acclaimed KerryHudson to tip him for 'big things' in the Observer. He has featured atvarious book festivals, on BBC Radio, and recently completed a placement atSemiotext(e). He holds a PhD in English and Creative Writing from NorthumbriaUniversity and has worked as an Associate Lecturer in Creative Writing at theUniversities of Northumbria and Teesside.

'A stunning, hilariousdepiction of northern working-class violent masculinity conveyed - in a skewedway - through the form of experimental literary fiction.' Chris Kraus, author of I Love Dick'Original, fierce, funny, poignant and real... He refuses to surrender his masculinity or to stand outside ofit in a book about masculinity, which is exactly what is called for, in art.' David Keenan, author of For the Good Times'Malc's Boy is a shapeshifting novel exploring the beauty andviolence of northern, working-class masculinity. The fluid, experimental form interrogates the notion ofauthorship and questions what it means to tell the story of places and peoplein their own voices and on their own terms - I am very excited to followits journey.'Jessica Andrews, author of Saltwater'Very compelling. I often find anything experimental a bitbloodless and cold but there is a real fleshy, gritty warmth to this. I love the way he pushes the boundaries of the form. Innovative, original and atmospheric.' Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love'I tip [Shaun Wilson]for big things...' Kerry Hudson, author of Thirst 'Shaun Wilson is astartling new voice in literary fiction, a writer of breathtaking originality who somehowmanages to be savage, lyrical and darkly comedic all at once. Malc's Boy does for the Lake Districtwhat Trainspotting did for Edinburgh.'Andrew Crumey, author of Sputnik Caledonia'Tears the notion of the bildungsroman to shreds. A boy learns toxic masculinity from his loving father and happilygrows up without any sort of moral compass. A tonic for all those sick of tedious novels aboutrich people'sproblems.' Stewart Home, author of Fascist Yoga'Shaun Wilson treads the liminal trails which wend between verityand story - or even perhaps between dirty reality and dirty realism - todiscover a quiddity of truth more faithful than the pure form of either state.And, as is so often the case in the bad-lands of border country, there is a stark beauty in this place.' Jonathan Trigell, author of Boy A'The best books are the ones whichmarch into your imagination and occupy a place in it. Malc's Boy is like that: funny, frightening and utterly convincing, it doesn't so much wear its heart on its sleeve as staple it there, take aphotograph and then dissect the concepts of 'heart'and 'sleeve' for good measure. It's a working-class memoir which confidently negotiates the uneaseof writing all this stuff down, and a story told in a compelling voice. ShaunWilson is a proper talent.' Tony Williams, author of All the Bananas I've Never Eaten and Nutcase'Malc's Boy marries authentic Cumbrian dialect with analmost dizzying range of language and styles, high and low, philosophical, lyrical, funny and sometimesdownright dirty.' Ann Rower, author of If You're a Girl: Selected Stories 1985-2023'Stunning. I love how it careers from thebrutal to the beautiful.' Tony Walsh, poet and author of This is the Place'Malc's Boy is a raw, unflinching debutthat dissects the turbulent bond between a son and his formidable father. Fromworking-class life Wilson crafts a bold, emotionally charged, funny andbeautiful tale that lingers long after the final page.' Lee Rourke, author of Glitch‘Malc’s Boy is a superb and blistering novel – like D.H. Lawrence spliced with Knausgaard and a dash of Irvine Welsh. Shaun Wilson writes with gripping verve from the guts of intimate Northern experience, allowing his material to shape and animate its own form. The contrivances of by-numbers fiction be damned.’Rob Doyle, author of Cameo'This pathbreaking autofictional work departsfrom the typical novel of working-class improvement or moral uplift, focusinginstead on a narrative that is less heroic but more authenticallyrepresentative of Northern working-class life. The language, dialect, plot andcharacter all ring true and there is hardly a misplaced word.'Hywel Dix,editor of Autofiction in English'Malc's Boy captures Cumbrian life withbiting authenticity and brings together sharp humour and deep feeling in a waythat only local colour can. It is not so much a voice novel as it is a novelabout the power of having a voice and how we understand ourselves in storiesgone untold.'Scott Preston, author of The BorrowedHills'A moving, polyvocalic exploration of a young man'sstruggle with the pressures of toxic masculinity, rendered with impressivetechnical skill. Malc's Boy may not always be a comfortable read, but itis a necessary one.' Louise Powell, author of Underdogs 'I've been anticipating Shaun Wilson's debut foryears, and the finished book is just as innovative and brutal as those earlyextracts promised! Malc's Boy is raw and real and full of insecurebravado: an unflinching interrogation of masculinity, and of a side of Cumbrianot found on a daffodil tea towel.'Katie Hale, author of TheEdge of Solitude'Original, fierce and funny, Malc's Boyconfirms Wilson as a major new literary talent.'DougJohnstone, author of Tombstoning