The shortlisters of the Goldsmiths Prize: how literature continues to challenge societal moulds

The Goldsmiths Prize is a £10,000 prize coveted by fiction writers, now in its 13th year it rewards fiction that breaks the mould and creates a publishing future for the novel. A prize designed to celebrate creative daring literature that embodies the spirit of invention. This year's shortlist are genre-defying novels. Literature that challenges and confronts, unashamed and unabashed.

Each novel shortlisted for this prize aims to defy societal norms in a different way, all bringing something new and entirely unique to the genre, aiming to challenge one of the many insidious problems faced by our society. I will briefly talk about the novels shortlisted which I believe have challenged the current societal moulds most prominently and unapologetically.

'We Pretty Pieces of Flesh' by Colwell Brown is utterly unique, written entirely in a South Yorkshire dialect. It details the lives of three working class girls growing up in the hope-starved atmosphere of a small northern English city. The novel addresses the social hierarchies, so impossible to avoid, that ultimately define the rest of these girls' lives. Brown blatantly exposes the misogyny that is so deeply ingrained in our society which creates an implicit sense of danger and conflict throughout the novel. She rips off a facade and forces readers to bear witness to the struggles of the working-class girl.

The second novel on the list is unique for its use of magical realism and employment of an unreliable narrator. 'The Catch' by Yrsa Daley-Ward explores the acute desperation for love and validation felt by those who grew up with no familial bonds. It follows the lives of two girls whose mother left shortly after they were born and consequently adopted into separate families. It becomes a devastating narration of a painful longing for love in an indifferent world and the sacrifices black women must make for self-actualisation.

And finally, 'Nova Scotia House' by Charlie Porter is both a love story and lament. An unapologetic exploration of the AIDS crisis and the devastating impact it had. Following Johnny as he mourns the loss of the love of his life 30 years earlier to AIDS, just mere months before retroviral drugs became available.

Fundamentally, the Goldsmith’s Prize is the perfect example of how literature continues to challenge societal moulds and defy expectations.