A massive thank you to everyone who has been involved with The Book Edit in 2024. I’m so proud of all the writers we’ve worked with and the incredible talent emerging from our collaborations.
This year’s Writers’ Prize—in association with Legend Press and judged by Lara Haworth—showcased eight brilliant winners at our annual prize event. You can read the anthology of winning entries or watch the recording here.
We’ll also be showcasing the eight shortlisted writers with clips of their readings beginning next week.
Hot off the press:
One of this year’s winners, Mike Murray, was also selected as a finalist in the Jericho First 500 Novel Competition and highly commended in the Irish Novel Fair Competition.
One of last year’s winner, Pavan Amara, has sold her debut novel, Mirror Mirror, to The Borough Press, an imprint at HarperCollins, in a three-way auction.
Stephanie Torrance, also a winner last year, won the Jericho First 500 Novel Competition (lovely to hear she and Mike bonded over the Book Edit connecttion during their finals!), beating over 1000 entrants to claim the first prize.
Long listed in 2022, Chris Bridges has sold his debut novel Sick to Death to Avon Books via his agent Hannah Schofield at LBA.
Shortlisted this year, Emma Conally-Barklem has had two performance poems published for the Black British Writers Feature Project in Breadfruit Magazine.
Book Edit client Chris Hatfield has published his debut non-fiction book, Sales Psyche, with Lid Publishing.
My ten-year-old son published his debut manga, The Definitely Normal School, in 2024 and is currently working on his second. (Couldn’t resist sneaking that one in!)
And finally, I’ll be teaching a small in-person creative writing course starting January 29th in De Beauvoir, East London. If you’re looking for help harnessing your creativity, developing your story’s core ideas, crafting characters, building your writing confidence, navigating the publishing landscape, and much more, this one’s for you. Deadline for signing up is 10 January. Only 10 spaces available.
That’s all from me. Thanks to everyone who worked with the Book Edit, supported us and kept their creative dreams alive. Here’s to many more adventures in 2025.
Emily X