Moving through decades of British imperial and cold war history with a 1,264-page narrative, China Miéville has won the £10,000 Goldsmiths prize for his epic novel The Rouse, The Guardian reported.
The win was announced at a ceremony in London on Wednesday. It makes The Rouse the longest novel to take the prize since its launch in 2013 to reward fiction that breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form.
The Book That Broke Expectation
- China Miéville won the £10,000 Goldsmiths prize for The Rouse, a 1,264-page novel that took 20 years to write.
- The novel beat five other shortlisted books, including works by Polly Barton, Keith Ridgway, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Aea Varfis-van Warmelo, and Missouri Williams.
- Jury chair Francis Spufford noted that the book broke most explosively with expectation in terms of ambition, bold use of history, linguistic experiment, and sheer scale.
The novelist Francis Spufford, who chaired the judges, stated that while all the books on the shortlist were excellent, it seemed only right to give the prize to the one that broke most explosively with expectation in terms of ambition, bold use of history, linguistic experiment, and sheer scale.
Miéville called The Rouse the defining book of his life, which he had been writing for most of his adulthood, during an interview with the New Statesman. The publication co-founded the prize with Goldsmiths, University of London.
Inside the 1,264-Page Epic Set in 1973 London
Setting its scene in 1973 London, the story begins by following Maur after her son Ewan tragically passes away in what appears to be a suicide at a military base. As Maur tries to uncover what happened, she finds allies among other bereaved families and a journalist. She gradually discovers the British state’s covert interest in the paranormal.
Her search runs alongside the story of a soldier with experience of supernatural forces. In a review for The Guardian, Stuart Kelly called the book maximalist, dense, disorienting, and discomfiting. Kelly argued that Miéville deserves comparison with Roberto Bolaño and Mircea Cărtărescu, describing the work as affecting, intelligent, and very, very frightening.
Describing the book as monumental, fellow judge and novelist Hari Kunzru noted that Miéville took on the formidable challenge of capturing the unrepresentable, pushing the boundaries of both language and literary genre to their utmost limits. Kunzru added that in a time when much fiction is careful to colour inside the lines, this enormous, exuberant, and overflowing book is a reminder that the novel is capable of containing multitudes.
China Miéville Wins Goldsmiths Prize for Novel The Rouse
| Prize Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Prize Purse | £10,000 |
| Winning Novel | The Rouse by China Miéville |
| Length | 1,264 pages |
| Judging Panel Chair | Francis Spufford |
| Other Judges | Kate Briggs, Hari Kunzru, David Sexton |
In 2024, he co-wrote a novel with the actor Keanu Reeves titled The Book of Elsewhere.
Spufford was joined on the judging panel by writer and translator Kate Briggs, Kunzru, and journalist and former Evening Standard literary editor David Sexton. The Rouse triumphed over five alternative contenders: What Am I, a Deer? by Polly Barton, Dooneen by Keith Ridgway, Said the Dead by Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Attention Seeking Behaviour by Aea Varfis-van Warmelo, and The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams.
Having reached its 14th year, the competition welcomes submissions from authors who are either citizens of or live in the UK and Ireland, celebrating works that capture the inventive spirit that defines the finest storytelling in the novel format. Last year’s prize was won by CD Rose for We Live Here Now. Previous winners include Rachel Cusk, Eimear McBride, Ali Smith, Isabel Waidner, and Benjamin Myers. The Rouse by China Miéville is published by Pan Macmillan for £35.
