“I’m still pinching myself that I’ve been selected for this programme to be honest […] As a racially-minoritised woman, the publishing world has never felt accessible to me. Thank you Wellcome and Spread the Word for breaking down some of those barriers.” – Shema Tariq, 2025 Awardee
Spread the Word and Wellcome Collection are delighted to announce the six writers who have been awarded a place on the 2025 Wellcome Collection Non-Fiction Awards development programme. The Awardees are all working on books on health and being human and will be taking part in an intensive nine-month programme to develop their ideas into full-length proposals.
Awarded writers have a breadth of experience in health and medicine from the personal to the professional. Our six writers are: an NHS resident doctor; a disabled architectural researcher, designer and educator; a researcher, writer and designer who works at the intersection of care, time, disability and the environment; an urban data scientist; a Consultant in HIV and Sexual Health; and a medical doctor turned science journalist. Their projects cover subjects from an examination of migration and the NHS, to a history of the speculum and the female body in society, and the race to uncover life saving medicines before biodiversity loss means they are lost forever.
The programme offers each writer a £2,000 bursary, a travel and access fund, mentoring with an author, five masterclasses on writing non-fiction, insight and industry days, and the opportunity to meet with agents. In addition, a public programme of masterclasses and panel events will offer a wider range of support to aspiring non-fiction writers. The first public event will be an online Q&A with science journalist and author, Angela Saini, who will detail her journey as a non-fiction writer and offer advice on developing an idea.
Each writer will also be offered one-to-one sessions with Wellcome Collection’s publishing team, research specialists and Stories editorial teams. Wellcome Collection will have first refusal on the projects.
The awarded writers and their projects are:
- Ammad Butt, The International Health Service
- Jordan Whitewood-Neal, Disability, Space, and Citizenship
- Lindsey Allen, Fallow
- Ricky Nathvani, Street Life: The Science of Health Outside Your Front Door
- Shema Tariq, Speculum: a history of women’s bodies through one object
- Yemisi Bokinni, Finding Medicine: Untold stories of healing plants and the scientists in search of them
Fran Barrie, Publisher at Wellcome Collection said;
“We were so impressed by the quality and breadth of ideas submitted to this year’s awards. Our fantastic final six all have something urgent to say to shift the narrative around health. We’re excited to collaborate with them all, and to support them to develop their projects into full-blown book proposals over the coming months.”
Ruth Harrison, Director of Spread the Word said;
“We’re delighted to support these six exceptional writers and continue our partnership with Wellcome Collection following a successful pilot in 2022, which has resulted in three book deals with more announcements to come. This year we’ve expanded the programme to support aspiring non-fiction writers with a public programme, which will run alongside our development work. This will begin with a free online Q&A with award-winning author Angela Saini on 30 April.”