Alex Ross longlisted for £50,000 Warwick Prize

Organised by the University of Warwick, the international cross-disciplinary prize is awarded biennially to 'an excellent and substantial piece of writing in English, in any genre or form', on a specific theme.

This year's 'complexity' theme sees 20 titles by authors including Naomi Klein, Ian McDonald and Joseph O'Neill vying for the prize.

'I'm completely ecstatic,' Alex Ross tells Muso. 'It's obviously an enormously important prize. I feel like a complete unknown. I'm really elated that there is such a receptive audience in the UK. It makes me happy.'

Ross added that the book replicates his journey of discovering 20th-century music in college, which was an 'enormous rush' for him.

'My big hope is that it will introduce new audiences to this area of avant-garde classical music, whether they are from a pure classical background or a pop background,' he added. 'The 20th century is a great avenue for classical music.'

The book, Ross' first, won his native country's 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award and was also shortlisted for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and 2008 Samuel Johnson Prize. It is a narrative of 20th-century history through music, from Vienna before the First World War to downtown New York in the 1970s.

A shortlist of six titles will be announced on 23 January and the winner will be named on 24 February.
Read Muso's recent news story about Ross' MacArthur 'genius' grant here. The Rest is Noise was named Star Product in our April/May issue.

www.warwick.ac.uk/go/prizeforwriting

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