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Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize

About the prize

The path to literary success can sometimes seem elusive, even for those with talent. So, in 2009, the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize was launched to support new writers, with no limits on age, gender, nationality or background. With a list of high profile judges over the years including Brian Chikwava, Colin Grant, Maya Jaggi, Jackie Kay, Tabish Khair, Toby Litt and Blake Morrison, the prize has boosted the confidence of writers in competitive times. In the words of one winner: ‘Before I was shortlisted I was … convinced I was never going to write another poem again .. thank you so much for this, I never … want to stop writing.’

Congratulations to the winners of the 2019 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize:

Congratulations to the winners of the 2019 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize:

Alicia Mietus for 'Third Person Female' (Fiction)

Desirée Seebaran for 'Picong' (Poetry)

Ruby D. Jones for 'Natural Causes' (Life Writing)

All winning entries are published in Volume 35 of Wasafiri.

Year Author Category Article Volume Issue
2018 Len Lukowski Life Writing Diary of a Teenage Boy 34 3
2018 Danie Shokoohi Poetry In the Garden Where the Gorgons Live 34 3
2018 Deirdre Shanahan Fiction Plunder 34 3
2017 Julie Abrams-Humphries Life Writing Crinoline Lady 33 2
2017 Mehran Waheed Poetry Petit Navire 33 2
2017 Ndinda Kioko Fiction Some Freedom Dreams 33 2
2016 Shiva Rahbaran Life Writing Massoumeh: The Story of an Iranian Family in Times of Revolution 32 1
2016 Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné Poetry Portrait of My Father as a Grouper 32 1
2016 Niamh MacCabe Fiction Nobody knows the Shivering Stars 32 1
2015 Louise Kennedy Life Writing A Suitable Family 31 1
2015 Amaal Said Poetry The Girl Grew 31 1
2015 Uschi Gatward Fiction My Brother is Back 31 1
2014 Aurvi Sharma Life Writing Seeing Double 30 1
2014 Pnina Shinebourne Poetry A poem from the sequence Gateway of India; Dot by dot of hurt 30 1
2014 Simon Van der Velde Fiction The Bearer 30 1
2013 Cliff Chen Life Writing Life Exchange 29 1
2013 Anita Pati Poetry A concise Chinese-English dictionary for stealing love (after Xiaolu Guo) 29 1
2013 Gita Ralleigh Fiction Back At The Museum 29 1
2012 David Houston Life Writing Wish You Were Here 28 1
2012 Sally St Clair Poetry In The Beginning and the End 28 1
2012 C S Mee Fiction The Walk 28 1
2011 Abeer Hoque Life Writing On Growing 27 1
2011 Richard Scott Poetry Adin 27 1
2011 Michael Marett-Crosby Fiction Room 618 27 1
2010 Barabara Jenkins Life Writing Its Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White 26 1
2010 Noel Williams Poetry The Anthropology of Loss 26 1
2010 Jaki McCarrick Fiction Minding Romiya 26 1
2009 Bart Moore-Gilbert Life Writing Prologue 25 1
2009 Rowyda Amin Poetry Monkey Daughter 25 1
2009 Ola Awonubi Fiction The Go Slow Journey 25 1

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