Last Wednesday evening eight fabulous winners of the inaugural Book Edit Writers’ Prize took to the online stage to read winning extracts from their novels. In front of an audience of 30 top literary agents, plus selected family and friends, the winners treated us to an evening of brilliant readings, showcasing their incredible talent. From a Kosovan streetsweeper with PTSD to a queer coming-of-age story set in contemporary Edinburgh, these were urgent stories which explored everything from addiction to ambition and even the future of humanity.
THE WINNERS OF THE BOOK EDIT WRITERS’ PRIZE 2021
The Book Edit Writers’ Prize is a national competition open to unagented, unpublished UK-based writers from communities underrepresented in publishing. Speaking about the prize Book Edit Director Emily Pedder said the aim was “to help talented writers from underrepresented backgrounds gain access to the industry in a way that might not otherwise have been possible.”
Entrants were invited to submit the first 1000 words of an already completed novel, along with a synopsis and statement about their writing experience. The eight winners were trained in reading their work aloud at an online rehearsal a week before the showcase. Speaking about the prize, co-judge and host of the showcase Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone said “Reading the entries for The Book Edit Writers' Prize was a real pleasure. There was such a diverse range of genres and voices and I was incredibly impressed by the potential and energy of so many of the entries…I’d like to thank all the winners, for sending in such great work to the competition and reading so well.”
Congratulations to all our winners! May this be the start of great things for your writing careers. And huge thanks to Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone for her involvement in the prize, from judging to rehearsing, hosting and everything in between.
For anyone wanting to hear these fabulous writers read from their work a recording of the showcase is available here and you can read an anthology of the extracts here.
Watch this space for future Book Edit events and competition dates!