Events: The Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize

British writing will be celebrated later today when the winners of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize will be announced in London at the Jerwood Space.

Fifteen books in total have been long listed (this is the first year the list has been released prior to the winners being announced.) The prize, established in 2010 is now in its fifth year. The prize is unique and it aims to showcase great British fiction.

“With writers from Swansea, Newcastle upon Tyne, Bath, Brighton, Lancaster, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Glasgow and London, and publishers from Yorkshire, Wales, Scotland and Norfolk, this year’s longlist presents an exciting snapshot of contemporary British fiction writing and publishing,” said Founder and Director Sophie Rochester.

Later today, eight winners will each be awarded £5,000. WH Smith Travel will be running an eight-week summer promotion featuring all eight winning Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize titles. Titles will feature in stores across the UK from 25 June 2015.

The fifteen books in contention for the prize money are:

• A Man Lies Dreaming by Lavie Tidhar (Hodder & Stoughton)
• Animals by Emma Jane Unsworth (Canongate Books)
• Beastings by Benjamin Myers (Bluemoose Books)
• Dear Thief by Samantha Harvey (Jonathan Cape, Penguin Random House)
• Mobile Library by David Whitehouse (Picador, Pan Macmillan)
• Mother Island by Bethan Roberts (Chatto & Windus, Penguin Random House)
• Significance by Jo Mazelis (Seren Books)
• The Four Marys by Jean Rafferty (Saraband)
• The Incarnations by Susan Barker (Doubleday, Transworld)
• The Offering by Grace McCleen (Sceptre, Hodder & Stougton)
• The Redemption of Galen Pike by Carys Davies (Salt)
• The Spice Box Letters by Eve Makis (Sandstone Press)
• The Stray American by Wendy Brandmark (Holland Park Press)
• The Way Out by Vicki Jarrett (Freight Books)
• Wittgenstein Jr by Lars Iyer (Melville House UK)

When announcing the list, chair of judges India Knight said:

“It is absolutely thrilling to have found such brilliant books, across such a wide variety of genres, and from authors that live and write all over the country. These are fantastic writers who deserve to be household names.”

The Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize is a Literary Platform project and is open to British writers who have had more than one work of fiction published.

Find out more at http://www.fictionuncovered.co.uk

We wish the fifteen authors on the list the best of luck.

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.