Rachel Cusk wins the Goldsmiths Prize 2024 for Parade

Rachel Cusk won the 2024 Goldsmiths Prize for Parade, published by Faber, at a ceremony at Foyles in London on 6 November 2024. The prize is worth £10,000 and is run by Goldsmiths, University of London, in partnership with the New Statesman. It was founded in 2013 to reward fiction that breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form.

Parade moves between essay, fiction, biography and philosophy. It follows a series of visual artists, all referred to by the initial G, and considers art, gender and the making of a self.

It was Cusk's fourth nomination: the three novels of her Outline trilogy were each shortlisted. The judges were chaired by Dr Abigail Shinn, with Sara Baume, Xiaolu Guo and Lola Seaton. The other shortlisted books were by Mark Bowles, Jonathan Buckley, Neel Mukherjee, Lara Pawson and Han Smith.

The Goldsmiths Prize is small in money but distinct in purpose. It is one of the few awards that explicitly rewards formal experiment rather than treating it as a risk. For writers working against conventional structure, it is a sign that there is a readership, and a set of judges, looking for exactly that.

Source: Goldsmiths, University of London: Rachel Cusk's Parade wins the Goldsmiths Prize 2024.