Spotlight on 2023’s Book Edit Writers’ Prize Shortlisted Novelists

Continuing our series of spotlights on 2023’s Book Edit Writers’ Prize shortlist, this week we hear from Jenni Brooks and Ramya Julian.

Jenni Brooks' short fiction and poetry has been published in The Paul Cave Prize for Literature Anthology and Streetcake Magazine. Her spoken-word film 'Women and Autism', won the Best Professional Short Film, in the National Autistic Society’s Autism Uncut Awards, hosted at BAFTA. She is currently working on her first short story collection, Autism-Friendly Mom Jeans for Adult Women and a novel, Teggies.

Contact: brooksjenni434@gmail.com

Teggies is a novel about 12-year-old Keziah, who tells the story of how she became sex-trafficked to a necrophiliac client she is waiting for. The client is prepared to pay Keziah’s pimp £100,000 to rape and kill her. Keziah, however, has a plan to escape. She has stored a mobile in her vagina, and has been instructed by fellow victim, Lucia, to call for help, once he is on the way. 

Author, illustrator, and dentist, Ramya Julian wrote her first novel when she was ten. She says it was very well-received, though it was read only by her brother. When she’s not guilt-tripping her daughters into good behaviour, she can be found devouring books, crafting poems, and chuckling at her own witticisms. She grew up in India and now lives in London. She has experienced so much joy through the artistry of many creators, that she aspires to share at least some of it through her writing. Read more at www.ramyajulian.com

Malathi

Malathi, a twenty-year-old aspiring physicist, agrees to an arranged marriage with Prasad. However, struggling academically and facing discord with Prasad while grappling with the complexities of a large family, she flees. Malathi finds solace in building the school in her grandmother’s village, Malliyoor, until tragedy strikes. However, Prasad and his sister, initially at odds, join forces with her. Together, they create the change required in this tale of family, growth, and love.

Congratulations, Jenni and Ramya! We hope you enjoyed their readings as much as we did.

Next week, we’ll hear from more of our shortlisted writers so watch this space!

Want to find our more about what we offer at the Book Edit, from editing to mentoring to consulting on every aspect of publishing, including self-publishing? Hit the button below and we will get back to you with more information.

One week left to submit!

With just seven days left to send us your Writers’ Prize submissions, what better way to encourage you than to share news of one of last year’s longlisted writers, Hamish Morjaria?

Pan Macmillan India have acquired Hamish’s ‘heart-stopping thriller trilogy, The Harveen Gill Mysteries in a pre-empt. His first book, The Muziris Empire, which he submitted for the prize last year, will be published in summer 2024.

Speaking of his involvement with the Book Edit prize last year, Hamish said “The journey to publication can be a difficult one, perhaps even more so for writers who come from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. Entering and being long listed for The Book Edit Writers’ Prize in 2022 was an important step for me. The kind words from Emily about The Muziris Empire were a welcome boost as I navigated the querying process.”

Congratulations, Hamish! We can’t wait to see your books in print!

And for those of you inspired by Hamish’s journey, why not see where submitting to this year’s prize might take you?

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!

Submit to the Writers' Prize 2022

There’s just over a week to go until the Book Edit’s Writers’ Prize deadline on October 22!

Launched on September 12, we’re into the second year of the competition and this time we’re delighted that it will be judged by acclaimed author Dr Elizabeth Chakrabarty.

The eight talented winners will again have the chance to read their work at a live zoom showcase event in front of industry guests and Book Edit contacts.

A recording of the 2021 showcase is available here and an anthology of the extracts can be found here.

The prize is open to unpublished British and/or UK-based novelists from backgrounds and communities currently underrepresented in British publishing. Our FAQs page has more on eligibility and what we mean by underrepresented.

Elizabeth Chakrabarty, our judge for this year, published her debut novel, Lessons in Love and Other Crimes in 2021 after leaving academia to concentrate on her writing. She has since been longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize, shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize, and for the Dinesh Allirajah Prize 2022 for her short story That Last Summer.

Writers’ Prize Judge, author Elizabeth Chakrabarty

Elizabeth’s novel was inspired by her experience of a hate crime while she was working in higher education, and in a personal essay in Wasafari she writes about some of the things she was told whilst working in academia, such as that she had spelled her own name wrong and being asked if she had an arranged marriage.

In an interview with The Book Edit’s Founder, Emily Pedder, Chakrabarty has commented before that it is not surprising “just how non-diverse the publishing industry is in the UK, although that seems to be changing.”

The Book Edit Writers’ Prize aims to support those talented writers who might not otherwise have access to the industry. For the chance to have your work judged by Charkrabarty, all you need to submit is the first 1,000 words of your novel. For full competition details, dates and submission guidelines follow this link. The competition closes on 22nd October.

This competition is completely free to enter, and all entrants will receive advice on other options including courses, mentoring and editing (so you can’t lose!).

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

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!