Han Smith, author of the “extraordinary” (Adam Zmith) Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking, has been selected as the best-written work on the Goldsmiths Prize shortlist by Sean McNulty of AuraistBooks.

For context, Sean’s Substack is incredibly popular, bringing in a readership of  more than 32,000 readers!

As part of his Substack, Sean invites the authors chosen to write an article on prose style. You can read the article in its entirety here.

Here’s a sneak snippet! Talking about the stylistic issues that were most important to the creation of Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking, Han writes:

‘Working backwards, I can see now that one issue was developing a sense of detachment and discomfort through the language: partly this is because the main ‘almost daughter’ character is herself unsure of exactly what her own instincts and feelings are, and this needed to come across in the style.’

Portraits at the Palace of Creativity and Wrecking is a story of seeing and part-seeing, of silence and speaking out, of conformation and confrontation, by an exhilarating new voice in fiction.

Get your copy of this “intimate, intricate, and ultimately irresistible” (Ruby Cowling) debut from Amazon, or, better, via your local bookshop or Bookshop.org.

Follow Han on Twitter @Han_Smiff.