The organisers and the judges are thrilled to announce this year’s prize winners.
The First Prize and £1,000 is awarded to Rue Baldry for ‘Dwell’
The judges, Ansa Khan Khattak, Editorial Director at Sceptre, a literary imprint of Hodder & Stroughton (Hachette UK) and Kiya Evans, literary agent at Mushens Entertainment:
“Confidently written and tackling big themes with real sensitivity and care, Rue’s writing pulls you along with assured ease. We both thoroughly enjoyed ‘Dwell’ and immediately felt endeared to its protagonist and setting.”
“I’m honoured and delighted that ‘Dwell’ has been chosen as the 2024 winner of the First Novel Prize. Mostly, writing involves being alone in a room with my thoughts, unable to sense the worth of the worlds I am creating and the words I’m using. Winning this prize and reading the judges’ assessment is incredibly validating and encouraging.
In the early twentieth century, when ‘Dwell’ is set, people like my main character, Albert, were made to feel shame for being LGBTQ+ and for having mental health issues. I like to think that this win honours those, like him, whose truths had to be kept hidden during their lifetimes.
Rue Baldry
I’m immensely grateful to the judges, Ansa Khan Kattak and Kiya Evans, and also want to thank The Literary Studio, Angel Belsey and Lorena Goldsmith for all the hard work they put into organising this prize.”
The Shortlist Prize and £500 is awarded to Axel Forrester for ‘Three Steps of the Sun’
“Immersive and with a narrative voice that instantly makes you believe in the character, we loved the world Axel depicts here, and the themes they seek to explore.”
Ansa Khan Khattak and Kiya Evans
“I’d like to thank The Literary Studio and the judges of the First Novel Prize, Ansa Khan Khattak and Kiya Evans, for awarding my novel, ‘Three Steps of the Sun’, with the Shortlist Prize for 2024. It’s encouraging to read their comments and see that the writing has communicated something to them, that there is a strong narrative voice, with characters that have come alive on the page. In the process of working to learn the craft of writing fiction, I have found my writing life and am hopeful that this novel will lead to representation so it may find other readers. To those writers out there who continue in the struggle to find representation and a path to publication, I’d like to say keep trying, don’t give up. Perhaps one day it will be your turn too!”
Axel Forrester