Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good

Eley Williams' collection of fiction Attrib. and Other Stories (2017) was awarded the Republic of Consciousness Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Her novel The Liar's Dictionary won a 2021 Betty Trask Award, was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and listed as a Guardian Book of the Year. In 2023, she was selected as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. Her writing is published in journals and anthologies including Modern Queer Poets, The Penguin Book of the Contemporary British Short Story edited by Philip Hensher, and Liberating the Canon edited by Isabel Waidner, with stories and serialised fiction also commissioned by Radio 4. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

‘Stories that work from the inside out … In these glancing, intriguing stories, Williams is careful never to offer neat endings’ Guardian‘Stories of deft surprise and smuggled revelations, glorious snapshots of lives lived with bafflement and wonder. Magical’ Jon McGregor, author of Lean Fall Stand‘Undeniably a skilful book’ Telegraph‘Poignant and playful’ Daily Mail‘Delightfully comic stories executed with such precision and care … Williams is a writer with few real rivals for stylistic acuity and invention’ Irish Times‘I don’t know anyone else who can write like this – language does something special for Eley Williams. What a joy!’ Ben Pester, author of Am I in the Right Place?‘A visionary writer… Each story is a multi-layered, kaleidoscopic exploration of a moment. Williams writes with both buoyancy and tremendous weight’ Jan Carson, author of Quickly, While They Still Have Horses ‘Frequently brilliant and deeply pleasurable … Williams’ writing is funny, surprising, calming and inimitable’ Caoilinn Hughes, author of The Alternatives ‘Like Kate Atkinson’s recent Normal Rules Don’t Apply, what you have here is a strong, funny writer having some fun’ Bookmunch'Vital, vivid and oddly companionable stories… that make wonders from the ordinary in a heady but precise wordplay' David Hayden, author of Darker with the Lights On‘Swimming in Williams’ oceanic imagination is a joy for the head and the heart‘ Ruby Cowling, author of This Paradise‘There’s a frightening type of joy in these stories; erudite and audacious’ Keiran Goddard, author of I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning‘Confirms her status as champion of the quixotic, the profound, the pulling-the-rug-from-under-your-feet unexpected. A writer to treasure’ Catherine Taylor, author of The Stirrings