Ferdia Lennon

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024WINNER OF THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION 2024WINNER OF THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARDSHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2024SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025 (DEBUT FICTION)A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIMEA BBC2 BETWEEN THE COVERS PICKPICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, THE INDEPENDENT, THE IRISH TIMES, THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE TLS‘One of the most original and brilliant debuts in years’ Irish Times‘Bold and totally unexpected ... I was hooked from the first page’ Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain‘Brilliant ... Hilarious, moving, and profound’ R. F. Kuang, author of Yellowface***Ancient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: lovesick, jobless, in need of a distraction. Imprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads. They’re fading in the baking heat, but not everything is lost: they can still recite lines from Greek tragedy when tempted by Lampo and Gelon with goatskins of wine and scraps of food. And so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry. It’s audacious. It might even be dangerous. But like all the best things in life – love, friendship, art itself – it will reveal the very worst, and the very best, of what humans are capable of. What could possibly go wrong?***‘Fierce, funny, fast-paced … Brings the ancient world roaring to life’ Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre‘Love, war, poetry, reckless ambition, terrible failure, and glorious triumph … A delicious treat of a read. I loved it’ Jon McGregor, author of Lean Fall StandSunday Times bestseller, August 2024

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE WATERSTONES DEBUT FICTION PRIZE 2024WINNER OF THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION 2024SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION 2024LONGLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2025A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIMEA BBC2 BETWEEN THE COVERS PICKPICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, THE INDEPENDENT, THE IRISH TIMES, THE FINANCIAL TIMES AND THE TLS‘One of the most original and brilliant debuts in years’ Irish Times‘Bold and totally unexpected ... I was hooked from the first page’ Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie Bain‘Brilliant ... Hilarious, moving, and profound’ R. F. Kuang, author of Yellowface***Ancient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: feckless, jobless, in need of a distraction. Imprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads. They’re fading in the baking heat, but not everything is lost: they can still recite lines from Greek tragedy when tempted by Lampo and Gelon with goatskins of wine and scraps of food. And so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry. It’s audacious. It might even be dangerous. But like all the best things in life – love, friendship, art itself – it will reveal the very worst, and the very best, of what humans are capable of. What could possibly go wrong?***‘Fierce, funny, fast-paced … Brings the ancient world roaring to life’ Joanna Quinn, author of The Whalebone Theatre‘Love, war, poetry, reckless ambition, terrible failure, and glorious triumph … A delicious treat of a read. I loved it’ Jon McGregor, author of Lean Fall StandSunday Times bestseller, August 2024

V vek do nashej ery. Sirakuzy. Idet Peloponesskaja vojna, i sotni afinjan posle neudachnogo nastuplenija na Sirakuzy okazyvajutsja v plenu. Ikh derzhat v karere, oni gibnut ot goloda, zhazhdy, boleznej. Dva sirakuzjanina, bezrabotnye gonchary Gelon i Lampon, reshajut postavit silami plennykh afinjan spektakl - "Medeju" Evripida. No v aktery, kotorykh obeschajut kormit i poit, berut tolko tekh, kto mozhet po pamjati rasskazat khot neskolko strok iz velikoj tragedii. Nuzhno najti dengi i na pitanie, i na kostjumy, i na dekoratsii. A esche ugovorit sitsilijtsev, kotorye nenavidjat afinjan, prijti na predstavlenie. Perevod s anglijskogo Darja Overnikova

Winner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic FictionWinner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction PrizeWinner of the Authors' Club Best First Novel AwardShortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical FictionShortlisted for Newcomer of the Year by the Irish Book AwardsShortlisted for the Nero Book Awards Debut Fiction PrizeShortlisted for the British Book Award for Debut Fiction Book of the YearLonglisted for the Carnegie Medal of ExcellenceNamed a Best Book of 2024 by Slate, the Guardian, and the New York Public Library An utterly original celebration of that which binds humanity across battle lines and history. On the island of Sicily amid the Peloponnesian War, the Syracusans have figured out what to do with the surviving Athenians who had the gall to invade their city: they've herded the sorry prisoners of war into a rock quarry and left them to rot. Looking for a way to pass the time, Lampo and Gelon, two unemployed potters with a soft spot for poetry and drink, head down into the quarry to feed the Athenians if, and only if, they can manage a few choice lines from their great playwright Euripides. Before long, the two mates hatch a plan to direct a full-blown production of Medea. After all, you can hate the people but love their art. But as opening night approaches, what started as a lark quickly sets in motion a series of extraordinary events, and our wayward heroes begin to realize that staging a play can be as dangerous as fighting a war, with all sorts of risks to life, limb, and friendship. Told in a contemporary Irish voice and as riotously funny as it is deeply moving, Glorious Exploits is an unforgettable ode to the power of art in a time of war, brotherhood in a time of enmity, and human will throughout the ages.

Winner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic FictionWinner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction PrizeWinner of the Authors' Club Best First Novel AwardShortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical FictionShortlisted for Newcomer of the Year by the Irish Book AwardsShortlisted for the Nero Book Awards Debut Fiction PrizeShortlisted for the British Book Award for Debut Fiction Book of the YearLonglisted for the Carnegie Medal of ExcellenceNamed a Best Book of 2024 by Slate, the Guardian, and the New York Public Library An utterly original celebration of that which binds humanity across battle lines and history. On the island of Sicily amid the Peloponnesian War, the Syracusans have figured out what to do with the surviving Athenians who had the gall to invade their city: they've herded the sorry prisoners of war into a rock quarry and left them to rot. Looking for a way to pass the time, Lampo and Gelon, two unemployed potters with a soft spot for poetry and drink, head down into the quarry to feed the Athenians if, and only if, they can manage a few choice lines from their great playwright Euripides. Before long, the two mates hatch a plan to direct a full-blown production of Medea. After all, you can hate the people but love their art. But as opening night approaches, what started as a lark quickly sets in motion a series of extraordinary events, and our wayward heroes begin to realize that staging a play can be as dangerous as fighting a war, with all sorts of risks to life, limb, and friendship. Told in a contemporary Irish voice and as riotously funny as it is deeply moving, Glorious Exploits is an unforgettable ode to the power of art in a time of war, brotherhood in a time of enmity, and human will throughout the ages.