2023 Book Edit Writers' Prize Shortlist

Seventeen writers have been shortlisted writers for 2023’s Book Edit Writers’ Prize. The final winners, judged this year by acclaimed author Deepa Anappara, will be announced next week with a special online showcase for industry guests on later this month. All the winning entries will also be published in an online anthology accessed via The Book Edit’s website after the showcase.

THE SHORTLISTED WRITERS AND THEIR NOVELS ARE:

Advice With Addy by Xyra Speed

Ah Couldney Tell by Pip Penman

Ashland by Joe Eurell

Butterfly Wings by Stephanie Torrance

I Dream of Strictly by Marion Shaikh

Kala Polari by Clare Ramsaran

Malathi by Ramya Julian

Mirror, Mirror by Pavan Amara

Tapha by Emily Abdeni-Holman

Teggies by Jenni Brooks

The Bachelor of Beaumont by Nicola Fieldsend

The City of Stolen Ether by Bianca Aye

The Enigmas of Amy Wang by Anu Pohani

The Minaret Boy by Rosalind Yarde

Viscid Rescue by Zeynep Kazmaz

Wayne’s Night Out by Grayson Anderson

You Look Better in the Sun by Nathanael Wheatcroft-Brown

Congratulations to all our shortlisted writers! And watch this space for further announcements next week.

The Book Edit Writers' Prize 2023 launches soon!

The Book Edit Writers’ Prize 2023 opens for applications on September 11 and this year we are delighted to announce that the prize will be judged by the writer Deepa Anappara.

Deepa was born in Kerala, southern India, and worked as a journalist in India for eleven years. Her reports on the impact of poverty and religious violence on the education of children won the Developing Asia Journalism Awards, the Every Human has Rights Media Awards, and the Sanskriti-Prabha Dutt Fellowship in Journalism. 

Her debut novel Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line was named as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time and NPR. It won the Edgar Award for Best Novel, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020, and shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Indian Literature. It is being translated into 23 languages.

Deepa is also the co-editor of Letters to a Writer of Colour, a collection of personal essays on fiction, race, and culture, published by Random House (US) and Vintage (UK) in March 2023.

“I am thrilled to judge the Book Edit Writer’s Prize, which was set up only three years ago and has already had tremendous success,’ writes Deepa. ‘Despite recent initiatives, access to publishing remains difficult for those in marginalised groups, and the Book Edit prize aims to highlight the incredible diversity of talent in this country. To be part of the prize is a real privilege, and I am looking forward to reading the submissions.

”

— Deepa Anappara

Aiming to support talented writers who might not otherwise have access to the industry, The Book Edit’s Writers’ Prize is a writing competition for unpublished British and/or UK-based novelists from backgrounds and communities currently under-represented in UK publishing.

“Winning the Writer’s Prize was the first time I’d had any external validation for my work and the showcase led to interest from a literary agent. This gave my confidence a massive boost and answered the question that I’d been asking myself for a long time which was “Am I capable of writing something with the potential to get published?”. The whole experience has spurred me on and I’m now more focussed than ever on that goal. Emily and the team at The Book Edit were so supportive through the whole process and am truly grateful for them running the prize.”

— Alexander McPhail, 2022 winner

Eight lucky winners will have the chance to read their work at a live Zoom showcase event in front of industry guests and The Book Edit contacts. After the event, an anthology of the readings will be published online. 

Winners will have the opportunity to rehearse and train for the showcase event with writer, editor and Novel Studio tutor, Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone.

As if all that wasn’t enough, this year we have partnered with the brilliant Legend Press who will be offering a unique opportunity for each of our winners to submit their first chapters to Legend’s Commissioning Editor, Lauren Wolff-Jones, followed by an hour’s Zoom mentoring session, during which Lauren will provide expert feedback and guidance.

And even if you aren’t one of the lucky winners, it’s a competition you can’t lose: completely free to enter, all entrants will receive advice on other options including courses, mentoring and editing.

All you need to submit is the first 1,000 words of your novel. For full competition details, judges, dates and submission guidelines follow this link.

The competition opens on Monday 11th September 2023, with a deadline of midnight on the 23rd October 2023. The Book Edit can’t wait to read your submissions and share your talent!

Spotlight on some of last year's winners of the Book Edit Writers' Prize

With just under three weeks left until The Book Edit Writers’ Prize deadline, we wanted to profile some of the brilliant winners of last year's prize to inspire submissions to the competition…

2021 Writers’ Prize winner, author Bren Gosling

Bren Gosling was one of last year’s winners with his novel The Street Sweeper. Since then, his new play ‘Proud’ has had a sell-out run at the King’s Head Theatre, London. The play, inspired by The Street Sweeper, is a powerful new drama focusing on a queer love story, tackling contemporary themes of race, trauma, religion, and sexuality. His play, ‘Moment of Grace’ also ran this summer at the Hope theatre in London and tells the story of Princess Diana’s famous visit to the UK’s first HIV/AIDS ward 35 years ago.

2021 Writers’ Prize winner Hannah Hoare’s debut novel Parahumanity

Bren has said that: “Winning The Book Edit Prize gave me the boost in confidence every writer needs once in a while to just keep going.”

Meanwhile, Hannah Hoare, another of 2021’s winners, had her novel Parahumanity published on 19th August 2022 by Wild Wolf Publishing. The book envisions a dystopian future where both science and religion have fallen into disrepute, following semi-feral 17-year-old Katrina as she uncovers the truth.

Hannah has said that: "Winning the Book Edit Writers' Prize did more than give me confidence as a writer: it connected me with a wonderful group of fellow writers who, nine months on, are still in touch to celebrate our successes."

Another 2021 Book Edit Writers’ Prize winner, Professor Malachi McIntosh, will publish a ground-breaking group biography of the Caribbean Artists Movement with Faber in 2023. Speaking of the Writers’ Prize, Malachi said “My confidence in my creative writing is a constant seesaw. Winning the Writer’s Prize came at a time when it felt like my fiction might never get much recognition. It really reinvigorated my faith and introduced me to some fantastic fellow writers. I can’t recommend participation highly enough.”

2021 Writers’ Prize winner , author Professor Malachi McIntosh

And since being one of the 2021 prize’s winners, Mich Maroney launched a literary magazine, Swerve, this summer in Ireland. The magazine showcases emerging writers and artists from Cork and issue 1 is out now. Swerve aims to publish new and emerging writing but another, equally important, ambition is to publish works in translation.

If you want to follow in these brilliant winners’ footsteps, send your work to The Book Edit by submitting to The Book Edit Writers’ Prize, this year judged by acclaimed author Elizabeth Chakrabarty.

Aimed at supporting talented writers who might not otherwise have access to the industry, the prize is open to unpublished British and/or UK-based novelists from communities and backgrounds currently underrepresented in British publishing. You can see the full competition rules and details here. We can’t wait to see who will be next to join our list of writers whose work we have supported and continue to champion. The deadline for submissions is 22nd October 2022.

Author Mich Maroney on her experience of winning the 2021 Writers’ Prize

The 2022 Book Edit Writers' Prize Launches Today

We are delighted to announce the launch today of The Book Edit’s Writers’ Prize 2022, which this year will be judged by author Elizabeth Chakrabarty.

Aiming to support talented writers who might not otherwise have access to the industry, The Book Edit’s Writers’ Prize is a writing competition for unpublished British and/or UK-based novelists from communities and backgrounds currently under-represented in UK publishing.

The 2022 Book Edit Writers’ Prize Judge, Elizabeth Chakrabarty. Photo by Jason Keith.

Eight winners will have the chance to read their work at a live Zoom showcase event in front of industry professionals and The Book Edit’s contacts. After the event, an anthology of the readings will be published on The Book Edit’s website.

"Winning the Book Edit Writers' Prize did more than give me confidence as a writer: it connected me with a wonderful group of fellow writers who, nine months on, are still in touch to celebrate our successes." 2021 winner Hannah Hoare, author of Parahumanity, Wild Wolf Publishing.

Winners will have the opportunity to rehearse and train for the showcase event and everyone who enters will receive advice on other options including mentoring, courses and editing.

Completely free to enter, it’s a competition no-one can lose! For full competition details, judges, dates and submission guidelines follow this link or click on the button below.

We can’t wait to read your submissions! Good luck!

The Book Edit Writers' Prize 2022 is Launching Soon!

Coming soon: launch of The Book Edit Writers’ Prize 2022

2022 Writers’ Prize Judge, Elizabeth Chakrabarty. Photo by Jason Keith

The Book Edit Writers’ Prize 2022 opens for applications on September 12 and this year we are thrilled to announce that the prize will be judged by the writer Elizabeth Chakrabarty.

Elizabeth is an interdisciplinary writer using creative and critical writing, besides performance, to explore themes of race, gender and sexuality. Her debut novel Lessons in Love and Other Crimes, inspired by experience of race hate crime, was published in 2021 by the Indigo Press, along with her essay, On Closure and Crime. In 2022 Lessons in Love and Other Crimes was longlisted for both the Desmond Elliott Prize, and also the Polari First Book Prize. Elizabeth was also shortlisted for the Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction 2022, for her story ‘That Last Summer’ published in The Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction 2022: Crime Stories by Comma Press.

“The quest to become a published author involves showing your work to
those who might help make that dream a reality. Being one of the
Writers’ Prize winners gave me the opportunity to present my fiction to
an audience of publishing professionals. And for that I’m grateful.”

— William Cairns, a winner of The Book Edit Writers' Prize 2021

Aiming to support talented writers who might not otherwise have access to the industry, The Book Edit’s Writers’ Prize is a writing competition for unpublished British and/or UK-based novelists from backgrounds and communities currently under-represented in UK publishing.

Mich Maroney, one of the 8 winners of The Book Edit Writers’ Prize 2021

“After getting over the initial shock of winning, it was just fantastic to feel that my voice was being heard...and also meeting my fellow writers - a very diverse group - was also fantastic...thank you very much, The Book Edit!”

— Mich Maroney, a winner of The Book Edit Writers' Prize 2021

Eight lucky winners will have the chance to read their work at a live Zoom showcase event in front of industry guests and The Book Edit contacts. After the event, an anthology of the readings will be published online. 

“The Book Edit Writer’s Prize is a great opportunity for new writers...”

— Deepa Anappara, author of the acclaimed Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line

Winners will have the opportunity to rehearse and train for the showcase event with writer, editor and Novel Studio tutor, Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone.

And even if you aren’t one of the lucky winners, it’s a competition you can’t lose: completely free to enter, all entrants will receive advice on other options including courses, mentoring and editing.

All you need to submit is the first 1,000 words of your novel. For full competition details, judges, dates and submission guidelines follow this link.

The competition opens on Monday 12th September 2022, with a deadline of midnight on the 22nd October 2022. The Book Edit can’t wait to read your submissions and share your talent!