The Book Edit Writers' Prize 2025 Launches Today

We are thrilled to announce the launch today of the Book Edit Writers' Prize 2025, an initiative dedicated to discovering and promoting talented, unpublished novelists now in its fifth year.

A Platform for Emerging Talent

Eight winners of the competition will get to present their work at an online Zoom showcase in front of invited industry guests, with an anthology of their work and a recording of the showcase featured on The Book Edit’s official website. They will also have the opportunity to train and rehearse for the showcase event, and all participants will receive guidance on other options including mentoring, editing and courses.

As an added benefit this year, we have teamed up with a top literary agency who will have first access to the winning entries a week before the showcase.

We will also record and spotlight the shortlisted entries to create exposure for more writers.

The Book Edit Writers’ Prize was both energising and motivating. It offered a creative challenge that sustained my focus and immersed me in the process from start to finish.

— Michelle Wales, 2024 Winner

Meet our Judge, Janice OKOH

We’re delighted to welcome Janice Okoh as the judge for this year’s prize. Janice is an acclaimed writer and author of the recent smash hit BBC3 Comedy Drama, Just Act Normal. Janice has said it is ‘an honour to be this year’s Writers' Prize Judge.’

Writers’ Prize Judge 2025 Janice Okoh

What the Prize Offers

The Book Edit Writers' Prize is more than just a competition. It's a launchpad for emerging talent, offering:

1. Industry Exposure: Eight winners will have the opportunity to showcase their work to top industry professionals.

2. Publication Opportunity: A chance to be featured in our anthology, putting your work in front of a wider audience.

3. Networking: Connect with fellow writers and industry insiders.

It was a privilege to be a part of the Writers’ Prize and working with the group of winners and the Book Edit team. Not only is being selected as a winner incredibly helpful to your writing CV, the practical training for a public reading (with agents and an audience) as well as the camaraderie with other winners is fantastic.

— Bernie McQuillan 2024 Winner

Key Dates

• Submissions Open: September 1, 2025

• Submission Deadline: October 13, 2025

• Rehearsal for winning writers: 19th November 2025

• Online showcase event: 26th November 2025

• Anthology of winners’ readings published: 3rd December 2025

How to Apply

For full details on submission guidelines and to apply, please visit our website.

It was an honour to win last year's Book Edit Writers' Prize. It kickstarted my career as a writer. I'd recommend that any aspiring writer of colour apply.

— Pavan Amara, 2024 Winner

What are you waiting for? We can’t wait to read your submissions!

The Book Edit Writers' Prize Returns for 2025 – And We Have Exciting News!

The Book Edit Writers' Prize is returning for 2025 – and this year promises to be special.

This prize has become something very special to me over the past five years. What started as a way to open doors for underrepresented writers has grown into a launchpad for writing careers, a confidence-builder for emerging voices, and most importantly, a community that lasts long after the submissions close.

Meet Our 2025 Judge: Janice Okoh

2025 Writers’ Prize Judge, Janice Okoh

I'm thrilled to announce that acclaimed author Janice Okoh will be judging our 2025 prize. Author of this year’s BBC3 hit drama, Just Act Normal (based on her award-winning play Three Birds) Janice brings exceptional skill in crafting compelling characters and narratives. Her understanding of voice, structure, and storytelling makes her an ideal judge for spotting emerging talent.

Why This Prize Continues to Matter

Over the past five years, I've watched this prize make a real difference to writers. Not just through the immediate benefits – though having your work read by literary agents and being published in our anthology certainly helps – but through the confidence it gives writers and the connections they make.

Just last year, one of our winners, Stephanie Torrance, told me: "The Book Edit Writer’s Prize was the first writing prize I ever entered, so winning gave me so much confidence that I can actually pursue writing as a career. The community aspect of the prize is also invaluable. I’m still in touch with winners and we keep up-to-date with each others’ progress and successes."

What You Need to Know

Submissions open: 1st September 2025
Deadline: 13th October 2025
Who can enter: British and/or UK-based unpublished novelists from communities currently underrepresented in UK publishing
What to submit: First 1,000 words of your novel, a synopsis (max 500 words), and a brief note about your writing experience
Entry fee: Absolutely nothing – this prize is completely free to enter.

What you win

This year's eight winners will all:

• Receive training in reading to a live audience, coached by Dr Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone

• Read their work at a live Zoom showcase event for invited industry guests curated from The Book Edit’s wide industry network.

• Have their work professionally edited and published in an anthology sent out to all UK literary agents

• Have a recording from the showcase published on The Book Edit’s website. 

If you're considering entering, please ensure you have a complete manuscript ready. Should an agent express interest following your showcase reading, you'll need to be able to send your full novel promptly. This prize works best for writers who are ready to take advantage of the opportunities it might create.

Even if you don't win, you'll receive tailored advice on next steps and become part of a community that believes in supporting each other's work.

Start Preparing Now

While submissions don't open until September 1st, now is the perfect time to start thinking about your entry. Polish those opening 1,000 words, craft a compelling synopsis, and most importantly, trust your voice and your story.

Remember, some of our most successful winners were first-time competition entrants who almost didn't submit. The difference between published and unpublished isn't always talent – sometimes it's simply courage.

I truly believe there are incredible stories out there waiting to be discovered, and I can't wait to read yours.

Warmest wishes

Emily

From Manuscript to Spotlight: The Book Edit Prize Shortlist Final Week

Our shortlist spotlight series concludes with Himmi Kari and Pip Penman, two compelling voices from 2024's Writers’ Prize shortlist.

Himmi Kari

Himmi is a GP, freelance writer and poet living in London. Greatly influenced by her decade-long medical career, Himmi writes about the challenges in the NHS and the potential for improvement through public health and medical technology. She is also a communication skills tutor at Imperial Medical School and a TEDxNHS speaker coach.

Her works have been published and produced. Most recently, her short play about women’s health, ‘The Phantom Marshmallow,’ was performed at the Marylebone Theatre in November 2024.

Crash Test Doctors

Crash Test Doctors follows three newly qualified doctors as they navigate their rollercoaster first year at the notorious ‘Misery Core’ hospital. Confronted daily with the sad, sick, and dying, they must adapt quickly to the harsh realities of medicine and fight to stay compassionate in the chaos. Can they maintain their humanity or will the relentless pressures consume them?

Pip Penman

Pip Penman is a Scottish writer from Kirkcaldy, Fife, living in New York City. She is co-founder of Women in Soccer, a professional network that advocates for women and underrepresented individuals in the soccer industry. As head of content, Pip writes Women in Soccer’s weekly newsletter with a readership of over 10,000. A Fulbright scholar, Pip completed a master’s degree at New York University. She also has a first-class degree in English Literature and History from the University of Edinburgh.

Ah Coudnae Tell

Escaping a traumatic past, identical twins Scarlet and Kirsty McLeod navigate young adulthood in Edinburgh. Struggling with her past, Scarlet spirals into alcohol-induced scandals that are shared online. Kirsty grapples with Scarlet’s destruction and a secret queer love that pulls her from her role as caretaker.

Set in 2014 and told through alternating narration, we see how technology affects their lives, which, like our own, are under constant digital surveillance.

The sisters’ loyalties are tested after Scarlet's actions lead to a devastating crime. When video footage and eyewitness accounts cannot determine who the responsible twin is, the line between reality and perception blurs.

Thank you for joining us in our series celebrating the depth of talent across our shortlist. Keep following us for news of next year's prize and more opportunities for emerging writers.

Just a few days left to submit to the Writers' Prize!

With just a few days left to submit to the Book Edit Writers’ Prize, we wanted to highlight one of last year’s winners, British-Lebanese writer Emily Abdeni-Holman, to encourage you to submit your work.

Emily’s poetry collection, Body Tectonic, was published by Broken Sleep Books this summer. She has also contributed her poem, Where We Find Ourselves, to the Arachne Press’ Global Majority anthology. 

Emily said, ‘Winning the Book Edit Writers’ Prize was a real affirmation that Tapha (now At the Pine House) was interesting to others and might be able to make it as a book and not just my own project. It was wonderful to meet other writers: we’re still in touch and sharing updates. I feel invested in my cohort as well as trying to take my own work forward, and that was definitely also down to Rebekah and Emily’s encouragement of all of us and enthusiasm about our writing. I think the prize opens something that continues; it isn’t just a one-off event. It’s easy with writing (for me at least) to sit on a project for years on end and not propel it out into the world, and the Book Edit Writers’ Prize has been important in invigorating me to believe in the possible wider resonance of my work. So, I’m very thankful and will definitely be following this year’s Prize.’

We’re super proud of all our longlisted, shortlisted and winning writers and we hope this has inspired you to submit to 2024’s competition to see where it might take you and your writing.

Writers' Prize Long listed author Iqbal Hussain to publish debut novel, Northern Boy

We were delighted to hear Book Edit Writers’ Prize longlisted writer Iqbal Hussain’s recent publication news. His debut novel, Northern Boy, will be published with Unbound in June 2024. Described as ‘Billy Elliot meets Bend It Like Beckham’, the novel is about aiming high and defying expectation.

We caught up with Iqbal to find out more about his path to publication.

The Book Edit (TBE): Have you always written?

Iqbal Hussain (IH): I have, ever since I can remember. As a child, I spent many happy weekends writing my own books “in the style of” The Famous Five, The Three Investigators, The Crimefighters (a great series of now-forgotten children’s books with Roger Moore at the helm!). I’d start with gusto, but then peter out after a few pages. I kept writing, doing a stint on the student newspaper at uni, then as a journalist for several years, specialising in young women’s and children’s magazines. And, in the last few years, I turned my hand to fiction – starting off with short stories, and then longer prose. With age comes persistence, and I can now gladly say I can finish writing a whole book, not just the first chapter!

TBE: Which book was the first to have a real impact on you as a reader, and which as a writer?

IH: The first book that really spoke to me as a reader was Charlotte’s Web. I was mesmerised by the world of the farmyard, and I cried buckets at the end, and then had my heart mended by the hope given in the final chapter. And the book that impacted me most as a writer was Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh. I’ve read and re-read this book, and its sequel, The Long Secret, many times, and I’m still in awe of the writing, the humour, and the insights. I’d never come across a character like Harriet before – she spies on her neighbours, jots down things in a notebook (often mean things!), gets found out but ultimately stays true to herself. Harriet’s adventures made me want to become a writer myself, and I did.

TBE: If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

IH: To keep writing and to keep believing. And to not feel bad for not finishing those early drafts of cod-Blyton tales, as all writing experience is valid and even those pastiche pages would go into making me the writer I’ve become.

TBE: Why do you write and what makes it so vital for you?

I often write about my childhood, or about my parents, or their friends. I was born in a Northern mill town, and so much of that history has been erased – literally, as the mills were nearly all demolished, and even the neighbourhood I grew up in was razed to the ground after being bought up on a compulsory purchase order by the council. If I don’t document those things, no-one else will, and those histories, those people, those streets, will all be forgotten. And I can’t let that happen.

TBE: How do you sustain yourself as a writer with all the highs and lows of a writer’s life?

IH: It’s a constant battle against wanting to write full-time and having to be realistic and know I need the day job in order to pay the bills. It’s truly wonderful when you get an acceptance, whether it be for a short story, or a competition placing, or getting a book deal – nothing will ever beat that sense of elation, and of seeing your name in print, or hearing from a reader who connected with something you’ve written. Those highs make the lows – the uncertainty, the rejections, the endless waiting – worth it.

TBE: Can you tell us a bit about your experience of getting published? Has anything been surprising, in a good or bad way?!

IH: I was surprised how long it took for my debut novel, Northern Boy, to be published. This was despite having an amazing agent (Robert Caskie) and having had lots of people in the publishing world help me shape the book into the form it is now. We got no takers when we submitted it to publishers, and in the end it took winning a competition to get the book out there. Having said that, I can think of no better publisher than Unbound with which to launch my novel. The team have shown so much love, care and championing for the book – I feel truly blessed.

Iqbal’s debut novel, Northern Boy, due out next month

TBE: Which fiction writers inspire you currently?

IH: I tend to read far and wide, taking in everything from children’s books to classics to contemporary to non-fiction. I’ve recently enjoyed The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey, which is set in a time and space very similar to that of Northern Boy. Jennie writes with a light touch, and does that nearly impossible job of combining humour with pathos, light-heartedness with seriousness. I’ve also just read The Other Side of Mrs Wood, by Lucy Barker, set in the world of Victorian seances. What a treat that was! Sheep’s Clothing by Celia Dale is a masterclass in observation, dialogue and setting. I’m eking it out so it lasts longer.

TBE: Do you have a particular writing process? Favourite place or time of day to write? Any rituals?

IH: I usually write at the weekends, starting at 9 a.m. and finishing around 5 p.m. – so I treat it very much like a working day. I have a dedicated study, so I’m free to tap away and not bother my partner. No rituals, but I normally listen to music while I write – I never used to, but it’s become easier these days to have music from the period that I’m writing about to help inspire me. Much of Northern Boy is set in the early 1980s, so I listened to a lot of ABBA and Bollywood music while writing it, which my young protagonist, Rafi, also enjoys. I write in Word, which is perfect for my needs. I’ve tried Scrivener and other writing programs, but the learning curve is so steep that I can’t justify spending that much time on them when I could be spending it on writing.

TBE: Are you someone who plans and plots before you write or do you write to discover the story? Or both?!

IH: I’d love to be a planner, and I’m getting better at it, but at heart I’m still someone who jumps in with only a vague idea of where the story’s going. I find the plotting stage at the beginning the most challenging – not the actual writing. But as I’ve written more, I’ve realised the benefits of getting a solid structure down at the outset – that’s not to say it can’t be changed and tweaked as the story develops, but it’s reassuring having a basic skeleton on which to hang the flesh of the story.

TBE: And to finish, what are you working on now?

IH: I’m currently finishing off edits to my debut children’s middle grade novel, The Time Travelling Misadventures of the 7th Son, which my agents (Lucy Irvine and Silvia Molteni from PFD) are hoping to get out on to submission in the next few weeks. So, that’s very exciting. And then there are always short stories in the background. Plus, I need to think about what my next adult book might be – I have some ideas but now I need to do the dreaded plotting to see if they hold water!

Thank you so much, Iqbal. We can’t wait for your novel to come out. To read more about Iqbal’s writing, visit his website here. Or to pre-order your copy of Northern Boy, visit here.

And watch this space for announcements about 2024’s Writers’ Prize later this year.