Debut Writers Over 50 Award
Jenny Brown AssociatesLiterary fiction, crime writing and writing for children; non-fiction: biography, history, sport, music popular culture. Also adult fiction and general non-fiction. No poetry, science fiction, fantasy or academic. Literary Agency has announced the inaugural Debut Writers Over 50 Award, for unpublished novelists in the UK over the age of 50.
The agency said that it had created the award "to address the lack of literary opportunities available to older writers eager to break into the publishing industry and to celebrate and value their collected, distilled wisdom, and a lifetime of reading and experience".
Debut novelists should submit the first 5,000 words of their novels between 1 and 31 May. A shortlist will be announced on 27 July, and the winner will be announced on 26 August during the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The prize is £1,000 cash and a week-long residential course at Moniack Mhor, Scotland's Creative Writing Centre. Runners up will be offered tailored mentoring.
Lisa Highton, associate agent at Jenny Brown Associates, said: "We're hugely excited to be starting the award and we're looking forward to discovering those writers who have great stories to tell. Older readers are significant purchasers of books and a hugely important demographic, and increasingly they want to see themselves represented in books. The publishing world can seem mysterious and impenetrable - we're offering a way in for writers who, up to now, haven't thought this was the time for them. It is!"