If that’s you, and you’re working on short stories or a full-length novel, we encourage you to submit your writing to us. This is a development prize, so you only need to have written a synopsis and the first 2,000 words – and we can support you as you write the rest.
That’s why the prize on offer isn’t a book deal. We don’t want to help you with one book. We want to give you the tools you need to write all the books that your imagination holds.
If you win the year-long mentorship, we will support and mentor you as you develop your writing, as well as provide you with the knowledge and contacts you need to navigate the at-times obtuse corridors of the publishing industry. Both you and the six shortlisted writers will receive a free writing course with Curtis Brown Creative, and will be invited to a networking event. We’ll also support the longlisted writers through a workshop, where we’ll discuss every aspect of the publishing process.
We are delighted to announce the longlist of the Bloomsbury Mentorship Programme.
Hosanna – Alice McClusker
Caitlin – Anna Carling
I Have it All Here, in Red, Blue, Green – Anon
In the Blood – Bartholomew Eboseremen
Botanique – Debora Maite Bottino
No Reply – Dipika Mummery
Sumintra – Helen Hosein
These Won’t Merk Me Either – Inigo Laguda
Please Like – June Helen Tuesday
Small Doses – Lauryn Mwale
Visage – Leo Lucas
White Globe – Max Gorse
Bloomsbury Publishing is one of the UK’s leading publishers of fiction – and we aim to publish stories that represent the diversity of people in this country.
But there are multiple barriers to book publishing, particularly for people from backgrounds underrepresented in publishing. That’s because the majority of people working in the industry are white and middle-class, and for decades, the books published have reflected that.
We want to help change the future of publishing – so you can tell the stories that reflect our community. And we want to properly support our authors in this work, as establishing a career as a writer (even a part-time writer) can be tough as you navigate connecting with agents, industry jargon, contract, sales, and how to make your writing viable. But we can’t create this change alone. We need you.
Submissions will be read by Bloomsbury staff, and the longlist and shortlist will be decided by a panel of judges. We are beyond excited to announce author Derek Owusu (That Reminds Me, Losing the Plot) and agent Angelique Tran Van Sang (Felicity Bryan Agency; clients include Amy Key, Polly Barton, K Patrick, Mona Arshi) as our inaugural panellists.
Longlisted writers will be invited to a workshop day covering all aspects of publishing.
The six shortlisted writers will receive access to a writing course offered by our partner literary consultancy, Curtis Brown Creative, and be invited to a networking event to meet agents and other industry contacts.
The shortlisted writers can pick from these four Curtis Brown Creative courses:
Showing & Telling – The Deep Dive
Character Development – The Deep Dive
The winner will receive a year-long mentorship from the Bloomsbury editorial team.
Derek Owusu is an award-winning writer and poet from North London. Owusu has written poetry and short stories for the BBC and ITV, and regularly features on literary prize judging panels.
In 2019, Owusu collated, edited and contributed to SAFE: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space, an anthology exploring the experiences of Black men in Britain.
His first novel That Reminds Me was the first work of fiction to be published by Stormzy’s Merky Books imprint and won the Desmond Elliott Prize for debut fiction, with the judges praising it as a ‘transcendent work of literature’. In 2020, Owusu was one of the founding members of the Black Writers Guild, whose formation was due to the lack of representation and inequalities that exist within mainstream publishing in the UK.
In 2023, Derek was named in Granta Magazine’s Best of British Novelists list.
Angelique Tran Van Sang is a literary agent at Felicity Bryan Associates. She moved to the agency in 2021, after seven years as an editor at Bloomsbury, where she worked with authors such as Reni Eddo-Lodge and Kamila Shamsie, and published Jenny Zhang, Olivia Sudjic, Kikuko Tsumura and Saba Sams, amongst others.
At FBA, her authors include Amy Key, K Patrick, Polly Barton and Clara Kumagai. She is a board member of the Writing Squad (a development programme for writers aged 16-21 living, working or studying in the north of England), was a guest judge for the inaugural Stinging Fly/FBA Fiction Prize, and was named a Bookseller Rising Star in 2020.
All entries must be made via our submissions portal, linked above. This form asks for basic identifying information, and will allow you to upload your entry. The entry should conform to the guidelines set out below.
You can read our frequently asked questions or email us at [email protected] if your question has not been answered.
Similarly, if you have any accessibility requirements, and wish to discuss your needs with us further, please email us.
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