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
''Wasafiri'' is a quarterly British literary magazine covering international contemporary writing. Founded in 1984, the magazine derives its name from a Swahili word meaning "travellers" that is etymologically linked with the Arabic word " safa ...
'' 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; The winners are published in the print and online magazine.
Award history
2009
The 2009 judges were:
Susheila Nasta
Susheila Nasta, MBE, Hon. FRSL (born 1953), is a British critic, editor, academic and literary activist. She is Professor of Modern and Contemporary Literatures at Queen Mary University of London, and founding editor of ''Wasafiri'', the UK's le ...
Purcell Room
The Purcell Room is a concert and performance venue which forms part of the Southbank Centre, one of central London's leading cultural complexes. It is named after the 17th century English composer Henry Purcell and has 370 seats. The Purcell Roo ...
,
South Bank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge).
It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...
, London, with the winning entries subsequently published in ''Wasafiri'' 61, Spring 2010.
Winners
* Fiction: Ola Awonubi for "The Go Slow Journey"
* Poetry: Rowyda Amin for "Monkey Daughter"
* Life Writing: Bart Moore-Gilbert for "Prologue"
2010
The 2010 judges were Susheila Nasta (Chair),
Moniza Alvi
Moniza Alvi (born 2 February 1954) is a Pakistani-British poet and writer. She has won several well-known prizes for her verse.
Life and education
Moniza Alvi was born in Lahore, Pakistan, to a Pakistani father and a British mother. Her father ...
,
Romesh Gunesekera
Romesh Gunesekera FRSL (born 1954) is a Sri Lankan-born British author, who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for his novel ''Reef'' in 1994. He has judged a number of literary prizes and was Chair of the judges of Commonwealth Short Sto ...
and
Marina Warner
Dame Marina Sarah Warner, (born 9 November 1946) is an English historian, mythographer, art critic, novelist and short story writer. She is known for her many non-fiction books relating to feminism and myth. She has written for many publicat ...
. The winners were announced on October 14 at Somerset House, London, and the winning entries were published in ''Wasafiri'' 65, Spring 2011.
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
Barbara Jenkins is a Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidadian writer, whose work since 2010 has won several international prizes, including the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize, ''Wasafiri'' New Writing Prize.
...
Daljit Nagra
Daljit Nagra (born 1966) is a British poet whose debut collection, ''Look We Have Coming to Dover!'' – a title alluding to W. H. Auden's ''Look, Stranger!'', D. H. Lawrence's ''Look! We Have Come Through!'' and by epigraph also to Matthew Arn ...
. The winners were announced by Brian Chikwava at
Bush House
Bush House is a Grade II listed building at the southern end of Kingsway between Aldwych and the Strand in London. It was conceived as a major new trade centre by American industrialist Irving T. Bush, and commissioned, designed, funded, a ...
, London, and the winning entries were published in ''Wasafiri'' 69, Spring 2012.
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,
, Colin Grant. The winners were announced at Asia House on Wednesday 3 October.
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
Anthony Joseph (born 12 November 1966 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) is a British/Trinidadian poet, novelist, musician and academic.
Biography
Joseph was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where he was raised by his grandparents. He b ...
,
Tabish Khair
Tabish Khair is an Indian English author and associate professor in the Department of English, University of Aarhus, Denmark. His books include ''Babu Fictions'' (2001), ''The Bus Stopped'' (2004), which was shortlisted for the Encore Award (UK ...
and
Beverley Naidoo
Beverley Naidoo is a South African author of children's books who lives in the UK. Her first three novels featured life in South Africa where she lived until her twenties. She has also written a biography of the trade unionist Neil Aggett.
''The ...
. The winning entries were published in Issue 77 of ''Wasafiri'' in February 2014.
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
Bidisha Mamata is a British broadcaster and journalist specialising in international affairs, social justice issues, arts and culture.
Bidisha began writing professionally for style magazines such as ''i-D'', '' Dazed and Confused'', and the '' ...
,
Inua Ellams
Inua M. M. Ellams
(born 23 October 1984) is a UK-based poet, playwright and performer.
Work
Ellams has written for the Royal Shakespeare Company,
Royal National Theatre and the BBC. In June 2018, Ellams was elected as a Fellow of the ...
,
Monique Roffey
Monique Roffey (born 1965) is a Trinidadian-born British writer and memoirist. Her novels have been much acclaimed, winning awards including the 2013 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, for ''Archipelago'', and the Costa Book of the Y ...
. The winning entries were published in the Spring 2015 issue of ''Wasafiri''.
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
Toby Litt is an English writer and academic in the Department of English and Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London.
Life
Litt was born in Ampthill in 1968. He was educated at Bedford Modern School, read English at Worcester College, Ox ...
, Yasmin Alibhai Brown and Roger Robinson.
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
Imtiaz Dharker (born 31 January 1954) is a Pakistan-born British full time poet, artist, and video film maker. She won the Queen's Gold Medal for her English poetry and was appointed Chancellor of Newcastle University from January 2020.
In 201 ...
and
Vesna Goldsworthy
Vesna Goldsworthy FRSL ( Bjelogrlic, sr, Bjelogrlić, pronounced:
Byelogerlitch, is a Serbian writer and poet. She is from Belgrade and obtained her BA in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory from Belgrade University in 1985. She has l ...
. The winners were published in ''Wasafiri'' 89 (Spring 2017).
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
Sabrina Mahfouz is a British-Egyptian poet, playwright, performer and writer from South London, England. Her published work includes poetry, plays and contributions to several anthologies.
Education
Mahfouz earned a BA in English Literature a ...
Boyd Tonkin
Boyd Tonkin Hon. FRSL is an English writer, journalist and literary critic. He was the literary editor of ''The Independent'' newspaper from 1996 to 2013. A long-time proponent of foreign-language literature, he is the author of ''The 100 Best Nov ...
. The winners were announced on 19 October at The People's Palace,
Queen Mary University of London
, mottoeng = With united powers
, established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College
, type = Public researc ...
.
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
Marlborough House, a Grade I listed mansion in St James's, City of Westminster, London, is the headquarters of the Commonwealth of Nations and the seat of the Commonwealth Secretariat. It was built in 1711 for Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marl ...
.
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
Louise Doughty is the author of nine novels, five plays for radio and a TV mini-series. Her most recent book is ''Platform Seven'' (2019), currently being adapted as a four-part drama. The previous book, ''Black Water'', (2016) was nominated as ...
(Fiction),
Warsan Shire
Warsan Shire (born 1 August 1988) is a British writer, poet, editor and teacher, who was born to Somali parents in Kenya. In 2013 she was awarded the inaugural Brunel University African Poetry Prize, chosen from a shortlist of six candidates o ...
(Poetry) and
Nikesh Shukla
Nikesh Shukla (born 8 July 1980) is a British author and screenwriter. His writing focuses on race, racism, identity, and immigration. He is the editor of the 2016 collection of essays ''The Good Immigrant'', which features contributions from Ri ...
(Life Writing).
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
Raymond Antrobus is a British poet, educator and writer, who has been performing poetry since 2007. In March 2019 he won the Ted Hughes Award for new work in poetry.Aida Edemariam (Life Writing).
Winners
* Fiction: Sharma Taylor (Barbados) for "How You Make Jamaican Coconut Oil"
* Poetry:
Yasmine Seale
Yasmine Seale (b. 1989) is a British-Syrian writer and literary translator who works in English, Arabic, and French. She is the first woman to translate the entirety of ''The Arabian Nights'' from French and Arabic''.'' In addition to her written ...
(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)
2021
The 2021 judges were Hirsh Sawhney,
Christie Watson
Christie Watson (born 1976) is a British writer and retired nurse. Her first novel, ''Tiny Sunbirds Far Away'', won the Costa First Novel Award in the 2011 Costa Book Awards. Her second novel ''Where Women Are Kings'' also won critical praise.
...
(Life Writing),
Tishani Doshi
Tishani Doshi (born 9 December 1975) is an Indian poet, journalist and dancer based in Chennai. In 2006 she won the Forward Prize for her debut poetry book ''Countries of the Body''. Her poetry book ''A God at the Door'' has been shortlisted fo ...
(Poetry), and
Andrew Cowan
Andrew Cowan (13 December 1936 – 15 October 2019) was a Scottish rally driver, and the founder and senior director of Mitsubishi Ralliart until his retirement on 30 November 2005.
Early years
Cowan was raised in Duns, a small town in the ...
(Chair).
* Fiction: Kate Carne (UK) for "First to Go"
* Poetry: Dipanjali Roy (India) for "सफ़रनामा / Safarnama"
* Life Writing: Anne O'Brien (Ireland) for "Swallow"