The Journal
The Note Bene Journal is where we’ll share all prize updates, author interviews, book reviews, and editorial pieces; it’s the very latest from Nota Bene, here for you to explore.
Review: When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén (translated by Alice Menzies)
Shortlisted for the 2026 Nota Bene Prize, When the Cranes Fly South is a beautifully bittersweet novel about an ageing man desperate to mend his relationship with his son before it's too late.
Review: The Grapevine by Kate Kemp
Shortlisted for the 2026 Nota Bene Prize, The Grapevine is a wire-taut thriller set across a sweltering 1970s Australian summer, combining page-turning whodunnit with piercing exploration of the hidden lives of women, as a community is rocked by a brutal murder.
Review: The Original by Nell Stevens
Shortlisted for the 2026 Nota Bene Prize, The Original explores issues of art and authenticity with fierce intelligence and page-turning style, following an unusually perceptive child swept up in an intriguing case of disputed identity.
Review: Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley
Shortlisted for the 2026 Nota Bene Prize, Consider Yourself Kissed intermingles the personal and the public with originality and wit, tracing the complex path of a relationship across a decade characterised by momentous upheaval.
Review: Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan
Shortlisted for the 2026 Nota Bene Prize, Disappoint Me is an engrossing, heartfelt story of love, loss and the challenges of being true to yourself, as a poet-cum-legal councellor trans woman decides to take a stab at heteronormativity.
Review: Confessions by Catherine Airey
Shortlisted for the 2026 Nota Bene Prize, Confessions is a striking debut that follows a teenager orphaned by the 9/11 attack as she comes in contact with her estranged family in small town Ireland.
2026 Nota Bene Prize Finalists
Announcing the six 2026 finalist titles...
Review: The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
Shortlisted for the 2024 Nota Bene Prize, The Centre a budding young translator to a mysterious language centre where fluency comes at a chilling cost.
Review: Disturbance by Jenna Clake
Shortlisted for the 2024 Nota Bene Prize, Disturbance is a razor-sharp debut that explores all the ways that relationships and trauma can haunt our lives.
Meet the Judges: Amy Twigg
Meet the judges! A writer, born and raised in Kent, her debut novel Spoilt Creatures won the BPA Pitch Prize and was longlisted for the Mslexia Novel Competition.
Review: Chrysalis by Anna Metcalfe
Shortlisted for the 2024 Nota Bene Prize, Chrysalis by Anna Metcalfe is an unnerving, compelling and utterly contemporary debut novel about one woman's metamorphosis into an online phenomenon.
Meet the Judges: Onyi Nwabineli
Meet the judges! As well as penning two novels, Onyi founded Black Pens, the UK’s first writing retreat for Black womxn, and co-founded Surviving Out Loud.
Review: Talking At Night by Claire Daverley
A tender and lyrical debut that effortlessly nails both the exhilarating rush and trepidation of first love, Daverley's debut charts the burgeoning romance between Will and Rosie.
Review: Kala by Colin Walsh
Drenched in suspense and populated with richly drawn characters, Walsh’s atmospheric thriller follows three old friends reunited in their hometown on the Irish West Coast as chilling secrets from their past start to unravel.
Meet the Judges: Zeynep Kazmaz
Meet the judges! Zeynep runs a printing company and a bookstagram account, and in 2024, she was named the Women’s Prize Discoveries Scholar.
Review: Rosewater by Liv Little
Shortlisted for the 2024 Nota Bene Prize, Rosewater is a daring, unputdownable debut, filled with unforgettable characters and subtle social commentary, about a free-spirited young South Londoner is a stunning meditation on the ways in which friendship can deepen into romantic love.
Meet the Judges: Shahed Ezaydi
Meet the judges! A writer at Stylist Magazine, Shahed specialises in features and news in politics and entertainment.
2024 Nota Bene Prize Shortlist
Announcing the six 2024 shortlisted titles...
What’s Hot Right Now: 8 pop culture picks
In need of some inspiration? Here’s everything you need to listen, watch, shop and browse right now.
A Chat With: Irene Solà
We chatted with Irene Solà on her incredibly inventive and immersive novel, When I Sing, Mountains Dance, which won the 2023 Nota Bene Prize.