Kathryn Scanlan wins Gordon Burn prize for novel Kick the Latch
Based on a series of interviews with a horse trainer, the US author’s genre-defying book was described by judges as a ‘thundering achievement’
January 2024
Gordon Burn prize announces ‘blazing’ shortlist
Seven-strong shortlist of boundary-pushing books ranges from an Arctic coming-of-age novel to nonfiction about the IRA’s Brighton bombing
October 2022
2022 Gordon Burn prize awarded to London Bridge terror attack examination, Aftermath
Narrative non-fiction winner is written by Preti Taneja, who taught Usman Khan creative writing two years before he stabbed five people and killed two
August 2022
Gordon Burn prize shortlist announced: jazz icons, true crime and a rogue psychotherapist
Preti Taneja, David Whitehouse, Graeme Macrae Burnet, Margo Jefferson and Lea Ypi are shortlisted for the prize rewarding ‘bold and innovative’ books
October 2021
Top 10s
Top 10 true crime novels
Adding an intense layer of meaning to well-known facts, authors including Truman Capote, Kate Summerscale and Gordon Burn raise this genre far above its grubby reputation
February 2021
Top 10s
Top 10 books about football
From Barry Hines’s social realism to Nick Hornby’s account of all-consuming fandom, these are books about far more than sport
September 2019
Fred and Rose: Gordon Burn's journey to the grubby heart of England
Happy Like Murderers, Burn’s account of the Wests’ appalling crimes, fearlessly explored an unseen side of the country, even when it came to haunt him
August 2019
The Guardian Books podcast
My friend, the fake German heiress: a true crime special – books podcast
Rachel DeLoache Williams recalls her time with hoaxer Anna Sorokin in My Friend Anna and we rank the best true crime books
October 2016
David Szalay's 'unsparing' All That Man Is wins Gordon Burn prize
Booker-shortlisted author’s novel takes £5,000 award for its ‘darkly funny, marvellously observant’ stories
July 2016
Rachel Cooke's shelf life
Somebody’s Husband, Somebody’s Son: an unflinching look at the Yorkshire Ripper
Gordon Burn’s 1984 account of Peter Sutcliffe’s social roots impresses with the quality of its attention, says Rachel Cooke
October 2015
Books blog
Why it’s right that a Jimmy Savile biography won this year’s Gordon Burn prize
Rejected by publishers until after Savile’s death, Dan Davies’s In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile is a courageous account – Burn would have applauded it
June 2015
Books blog
Tips, links and suggestions: what are you reading this week?
Your space to discuss the books you are reading and what you think of them – plus our favourite literary links
October 2013
Benjamin Myers claims inaugural Gordon Burn prize
Durham-born author's Pig Iron wins £5,000 award established to celebrate work echoing the 'fearless, interrogative' spirit of Burn
September 2013
My hero
My hero: Gordon Burn by David Peace
Gordon saw and he felt. He empathised, animated and illuminated people. He is a writer other writers read, writes David Peace
July 2011
Fred West: a glimpse of extreme evil
Housewife and student Janet Leach was brought in by police to assist Fred West as he confessed to his crimes. Her ordeal is now the focus of a new TV drama
December 2009
Obituaries 2009: Gordon Burn
The opinionated and lyrical writer who died of cancer, on 17 July, aged 61, is remembered by the Turner Prize-winning artist
November 2009
Nicholas Lezard's choice
Sex & Violence, Death & Silence, by Gordon Burn
Nicholas Lezard's choice: Sex & Violence, Death & Silence by Gordon Burn
Damien Hirst pays tribute to the late Gordon Burn – his drinking buddy, toughest critic and fellow northerner
Books blog
Gordon Burn was one of the greatest writers of his age
Ben Myers: Gordon Burn influenced a generation of younger writers for whom northern England suddenly became a foreboding and evocative backdrop full of simmering tensions and dark secrets
In praise of ...
In praise of ... Gordon Burn
Editorial: For his first book Burn got into the ring with those greats of modern journalism Norman Mailer and Truman Capote and wrote a life story of the Yorkshire Ripper
