2024 Book Edit Writers' Prize Longlist Announcement

We are thrilled to announce the longlist for 2024's Book Edit Writers' Prize, celebrating emerging voices in fiction from underrepresented communities across the UK.

For the second consecutive year, we've partnered with Legend Press to discover and showcase exceptional new talent. The Prize seeks to amplify voices from communities currently underrepresented in publishing, creating vital pathways into the industry for British and UK-based novelists who have yet to secure representation or publication.

The response to this year's competition has been fantastic, with a record-breaking number of submissions that showcase the incredible depth and diversity of storytelling talent across the country. Each entrant was asked to submit their novel's opening 1,000 words, accompanied by a synopsis and a personal statement about their writing journey.

The longlisted works span an impressive range of genres and styles, from contemporary literary fiction to historical epics. Each longlisted writer has demonstrated exceptional promise, crafting compelling narratives that deserve to be shared with a wider audience. Their stories not only showcase strong storytelling but also bring fresh voices to contemporary literature.

THE LONGLISTED WRITERS AND THEIR NOVELS ARE:

• After by David Gill

• Ah Couldnae Tell by Pip Penman

• An Apple a Day by Sarah Jones

• Blue Sky, Red Dust byAlexis Coward

• Call me Adebimpe by Susan Emina

• Cats Who Smoke by Nancy Edwards

• Crack the Donkey Christ by David McGrath

• Crash Test Doctors by Himmi Kari

• Dana Williams and the Funeral by - Vic Lendon

• Eve & Adam by Eloise Poulton

• Exposure Therapy by Sarah Collins

• Jonathan Strong by Michelle Wales

• Laowai by Josephine Jay

• Light at the End of the Cave by Bernie McQuillan

• Light Beyond the Mountains by Alka Handa

• Sweet Doing Nothing by Sasha Ellery

• Sycamore by Christine Cordon

• The Cocklemen by Mike Murray

• The Gorse in the Gloaming by Hannah Foster

• The Red Moon Trails by Nabin Chhetri

• The Sun Sets Twice by Nicola Godlieb

• The Vow by Maria Clark

• Wayne’s Night Out by Grayson Anderson

• Yoga Homicide by Emma Conally-Barklem

Next Steps

The shortlist will be announced next week, with the winners revealed just before our online showcase on November 20, 2024.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their work, and huge congratulations to all our longlisted writers.

For more information about the Prize and updates on our shortlist announcement, please follow us on social media or sign up to our mailing list.

The Book Edit Writers' Prize is committed to discovering and nurturing new literary talent from underrepresented communities, helping to create a more diverse and inclusive publishing landscape.

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.

The Book Edit Writers' Prize 2024 Launches Today

We are thrilled to announce the launch today of the Book Edit Writers' Prize 2024, an initiative dedicated to discovering and promoting talented, unpublished novelists.

A Platform for Emerging Talent

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

“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, 2023 Winner

Writers’ Prize Judge 2024 Lara Haworth

Meet our Judge, Lara Haworth

We’re delighted to welcome Lara Haworth as the judge for this year’s prize. Lara is an artist and novelist, and author of the acclaimed Monumenta.

“I am honoured to judge this year’s Book Edit Writer’s Prize. The talent of the shortlisted writers over the last four years demonstrates both the strength of the competition and the continued need to carve out a space for writers from marginalised groups to thrive on their own terms. As a queer writer, the obstacles to success have been many. It is a real privilege to be part of a prize that works to remove some of those barriers, and I can’t wait to read the submissions”

— Lara Haworth, Writers' Prize Judge

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. Expert Feedback: Personalised feedback from Lauren Wolff-Jones, Commissioning Editor at Legend Press.

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

“Winning the Writers’ Prize was a real boost to my self-belief as a writer...With the renewed confidence that I gained after winning the prize, I applied for other competitions and was long listed, shortlisted and selected as a winner in some of them. Just go for it. You never know what might happen.”

— Rosalind Yarde, 2023 Winner

Key Dates

• Submissions Open: September 1, 2024

• Submission Deadline: October 15, 2024

• Rehearsal for winning writers: 13th November 2024

• Online showcase event: 20th November 2024

• Anthology of winners’ readings published on The Book Edit website:

  27th November 2024

How to Apply

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

“Winning the Book Edit Writers’ Prize winner 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...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.”

— Emily Abdeni-Holman, 2023 Winner

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!