Two awards for Zoe Pilger's Eat My Heart Out
Primary page content
Goldsmiths, University of London PhD student Zoe Pilger has taken home two prestigious awards at the Society of Author’s Authors’ Awards, held at the Army & Navy Club on 25 June.
The Betty Trask Prize is given annually to a debut novel of literary merit by an author under the age of 35.
The judges this year were Mike Gayle, Peter Kemp and Michèle Roberts.
Both the Prize and Awards were presented by Sarah Waters, herself a recipient of a Betty Trask Award in 1999 for Tipping the Velvet (Virago).
Zoe Pilger was born in London in 1984. She graduated with an MA in Comparative Literature from Goldsmiths in 2010 and also holds a BA in Social and Political Science from Cambridge (2007). Her research at Goldsmiths considers the relationship between freedom and romantic love, and examines how romantic narratives express wider themes of power, ethics, and creativity. Zoe is also working on her second book, Claire.
Eat My Heart Out
Eat My Heart Out follows 23-year-old Londoner Ann-Marie. Heartbroken, broke and furious, she's convinced that love is the answer to all of her problems, until she meets legendary feminist Stephanie Haight, a woman who could be her saviour - or her final undoing.
"Pilger writes with such infectious rage... Not since Martin Amis's work can I remember a novel so exhilarated - and made so exhilarating - by its own sense of disgust." – James Walton, Daily Mail
"It's rare that a debut novel has the power to both make the reader laugh out loud and sigh with admiration, but Zoe Pilger's does just that." - The Press Association
"Pilger might be the heiress to Angela Carter." - Deborah Levy, The Independent
The 2015 Betty Trask Prize shortlist
BEN FERGUSSON - THE SPRING OF KASPER MEIER (Little, Brown)
EMMA HEALEY - ELIZABETH IS MISSING (Viking)
ZOE PILGER - EAT MY HEART OUT (Serpent’s Tail)
SIMON WROE - CHOP CHOP (Viking)
Visit the Society of Authors website for a full list of past winners.