Representing more of the globe than any other prize of its kind, the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize is opening its doors for 2021 and welcoming work in fiction, poetry, and life writing from unpublished writers around the world.
The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize will be receiving submissions from around the world until 31 May 2021. Winners of the prize will receive £1,000 each to support their work, and fifteen shortlisted writers will be offered mentoring and career guidance from partners The Literary Consultancy and The Good Literary Agency.
This year’s award-winning international judging panel will be chaired by renowned novelist and Professor of Creative Writing Andrew Cowan. Judges include Tishani Doshi (Poetry), Hirsh Sawhney (Fiction), and Christie Watson (Life Writing).
Professor Andrew Cowan said: "I'm thrilled to be chairing the judging for this year's Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize. I'm looking forward to working with Tishani, Hirsh, and Christie, who are such wonderful writers. It'll be a real pleasure, and a genuine honour."
All winners of the prize, running since 2009, remain part of the Wasafiri community, and are supported by the magazine as their careers grow. Past winners and shortlistees have gone on to score deals with major international publishing houses such as Verso, Peepal Tree Press, and HarperCollins India and to be shortlisted for and win prizes including the TS Eliot Prize, Ambit Short Fiction, and Bocas Poetry Prize, among many others.
Find out more about the judges on the website of Wasafiri.
Wasafiri, the magazine for international contemporary writing, encourages readers and writers to travel the world via the word. For over three decades, Wasafiri has created a dynamic platform for mapping new landscapes in contemporary international writing featuring a diverse range of voices from across the UK and beyond.
Committed to profiling the ‘best of tomorrow’s writers today’, the magazine simultaneously celebrates those who have become established literary voices, offering a creative space for dialogue and debate.
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