The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize
Awarded forFor writers who have not yet published a complete book
CountryUnited Kingdom
Presented byWasafiri magazine
First awarded2009 (2009)
Websitewww.wasafiri.org/new-writing-prize/

The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize (originally known as the Wasafiri New Writing Prize) is an annual award open to anyone worldwide who has not yet published a complete book. It was inaugurated in 2009 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Wasafiri magazine, to support new writers, with no limits on age, gender, nationality or background. The prize is judged in three categories: Fiction, Poetry, and Life Writing;[1] The winners are published in the print and online magazine.[2]

Award history

2009

The 2009 judges were: Susheila Nasta (Chair), Margaret Busby, Mimi Khalvati and Blake Morrison. The winners were announced by Mimi Khalvati on 31 October at the Purcell Room, South Bank Centre, London, with the winning entries subsequently published in Wasafiri 61, Spring 2010.[3]

Winners

  • Fiction: Ola Awonubi for "The Go Slow Journey"[4]
  • Poetry: Rowyda Amin for "Monkey Daughter"
  • Life Writing: Bart Moore-Gilbert for "Prologue"

2010

The 2010 judges were Susheila Nasta (Chair), Moniza Alvi, Romesh Gunesekera and Marina Warner. The winners were announced on October 14 at Somerset House, London, and the winning entries were published in Wasafiri 65, Spring 2011.[5]

Winners

  • Fiction: Jackie McCarrick for "The Visit"
  • Fiction: Jane Ryan for "Minding Romiya"
  • Poetry: Noel Williams for "The Anthropology of Loss"
  • Life Writing: Barbara Jenkins for "It's Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White"

2011

The 2011 judges were: Susheila Nasta (Chair), Brian Chikwava, Jackie Kay and Daljit Nagra. The winners were announced by Brian Chikwava at Bush House, London, and the winning entries were published in Wasafiri 69, Spring 2012.[6]

Winners

  • Fiction: Michael Marett-Crosby for "Room 618"
  • Poetry: Richard Scott for "Adin"
  • Life Writing: Abeer Hoque for "On Growing"

2012

The 2012 judges were: Susheila Nasta MBE (Chair), John Haynes, Maya Jaggi, Colin Grant. The winners were announced at Asia House on Wednesday 3 October.[7]

Winners

  • Fiction: C. S. Mee for "The Walk"
  • Poetry: Sally St Clair for "In the Beginning and the End"
  • Life Writing: David Houston for "Wish You Were Here"

2013

The 2013 judges were Susheila Nasta MBE (Chair), Anthony Joseph, Tabish Khair and Beverley Naidoo. The winning entries were published in Issue 77 of Wasafiri in February 2014.[8]

Winners

  • Fiction: Gita Ralleigh for "Back at the Museum"
  • Life Writing: Cliff Chen for "Life Exchanges"
  • Poetry: Anita Pati for "A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Stealing Love"

2014

The 2014 judges were Susheila Nasta (Chair), Bidisha, Inua Ellams, Monique Roffey. The winning entries were published in the Spring 2015 issue of Wasafiri.[9]

Winners

  • Fiction: Simon van der Velde (UK) for "The Bearer"
  • Poetry: Pnina Shinebourne (UK) for "Dot by dot of hurt"; Aria Aber (UK) for "First Generation Immigrant Child"
  • Life Writing: Aurvi Sharma (USA) for "Seeing Double"

2015

The 2015 judges were Susheila Nasta (Chair), Toby Litt, Yasmin Alibhai Brown and Roger Robinson.[10]

Winners

  • Fiction: Uschi Gatward for "My Brother is Back"
  • Poetry: Amaal Said for "The Girl Grew"
  • Life Writing: Louise Kennedy for "A Suitable Family"

Special commendations: Akwaeke Emezi for "Welcome"; Richard Georges for "Bush Tea"; Sarala Estruch for "Saturdays"

2016

The 2016 judges were Susheila Nasta (Chair), Diran Adebayo, Imtiaz Dharker and Vesna Goldsworthy. The winners were published in Wasafiri 89 (Spring 2017).[11]

Winners

  • Fiction: Niamh MacCabe for "Nobody Knows the Shivering Stars"
  • Poetry: Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné for "Portrait of my father as a grouper"
  • Life Writing: Shiva Rahbaran for "Massoumeh: An Iranian Family in Times of Revolution"

Special commendations: H. M. Aziz for "The Cheekovit" (Fiction); Zillah Bowes for "Dogs who like fish" (Poetry); Cheryl Anderson for "Round Yard" (Life Writing)

2017

The 2017 judges were Susheila Nasta (Chair), Sabrina Mahfouz, Andrea Stuart and Boyd Tonkin.[12] The winners were announced on 19 October at The People's Palace, Queen Mary University of London.[13]

Winners

  • Fiction: Ndinda Kioko for "Some Freedom Dreams"
  • Poetry: Mehran Waheed for "Petit Navire"
  • Life Writing: Julie Abrams-Humphries for "Crinoline Lady"

Special commendations: "Seven Hells" by Zaid Hassan (Fiction); "What Yung Thug’s Colour Theory Best Describes As An Open Wound Or Open Letter" by Momtaza Mehri (Poetry); "Bentong! Go Back to Bentong!" by Aliyah Kim Keshani (Life Writing)

2018

The 2018 judges were Susheila Nasta (Chair), Elleke Boehmer, Malika Booker and Kerry Young. The winners were announced on 25 October at The Blenheim Saloon, Marlborough House.[14]

Winners

  • Fiction: Deidre Shanahan for "Plunder"
  • Poetry: Daniella Shokoohi for "In the Garden Where the Gorgons Live"
  • Life Writing: Len Lukowski for "Diary of a Teenage Boy"

Special commendations: "The Other Things in the Blood" by IfeOluwa Nihinlola (Fiction); "Babes in the Wood" by Maeve Henry (Poetry); "Feeding Grief to Animals" by Rebecca Parfitt (Life Writing)

2019

The 2019 judges were Susheila Nasta (Chair), Louise Doughty (Fiction), Warsan Shire (Poetry) and Nikesh Shukla (Life Writing).[15][16]

Winners

  • Fiction: Alicia Mietus for "Third Person Female"
  • Poetry: Desirée Seebaran for "Picong"
  • Life Writing: Ruby D. Jones for "Natural Causes"

Special commendations: Erica Sugi Anayadike, "How to Marry an African President" (Fiction); Joanna Johnson, "Pantoum of Soldiers" (Poetry); E. S. Batchelor, "Human Resources" (Life Writing)

2020

The 2020 judges were Simon Prosser (Fiction), Raymond Antrobus (Poetry) and Aida Edemariam (Life Writing).[17]

Winners

  • Fiction: Sharma Taylor (Barbados) for "How You Make Jamaican Coconut Oil"
  • Poetry: Yasmine Seale (Turkey) for "Conventional Wisdom"
  • Life Writing: Sharanya Deepak (India) for "Seamless"

Special commendations: Adam Zmith for "Holding on" (Fiction); Emily Pritchard for "Cutting water" (Poetry); Minifreda Grovetszki for "When you think I'm hurrying you but you're taking an eternity over every damn thing" (Life Writing)[18]

2021

The 2021 judges were Hirsh Sawhney, Christie Watson (Life Writing), Tishani Doshi (Poetry), and Andrew Cowan (Chair).[19]

  • Fiction: Kate Carne (UK) for "First to Go"
  • Poetry: Dipanjali Roy (India) for "सफ़रनामा / Safarnama"
  • Life Writing: Anne O'Brien (Ireland) for "Swallow"

References

  1. ↑ "The Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2009". African Literature News and Review. 27 February 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  2. ↑ "Grants and Funding News: Launch of the 2019 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize". Carlisle City Council. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "New Writing Prize 2009". Wasafiri. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  4. ↑ Anjorin-Kogbe, Bunmi (23 November 2018). "Interview with award winning author Ola Awonubi". Bunmi Anjorin-Kogbe. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  5. ↑ "New Writing Prize 2010". Wasafiri. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "New Writing Prize 2011". Wasafiri. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  7. ↑ "New Writing Prize 2012". Wasafiri. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  8. ↑ "New Writing Prize 2013". Wasafiri. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  9. ↑ "New Writing Prize 2014". Wasafiri. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  10. ↑ "New Writing Prize 2015". Wasafiri. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  11. ↑ "New Writing Prize 2016". Wasafiri. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  12. ↑ Obi-Young, Otosirieze (9 June 2017). "Opportunity for African Writers". Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  13. ↑ "New Writing Prize 2017". Wasafiri. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  14. ↑ "New Writing Prize 2018". Wasafiri. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  15. ↑ van Lente, Sandra (12 November 2019). "An Archive Full of Voices: Wasafiri celebrates 35 years and 100 issues!". Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  16. ↑ "Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2019 Shortlist". James Murua's Literary Blog. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  17. ↑ "2020 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize Winners Announced". Wasafiri. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  18. ↑ "Winners of the 2020 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize announced". Queen Mary University of London. 29 October 2020.
  19. ↑ "Winners Announced for the 2021 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize". Wasafiri. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2022.

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