Hear three finalists for Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour, reading and discussing their work.
Free to attend. BOOK VIA EVENTBRITE HERE.
Looking for your next favourite read? One that will take you out of this world?
Join Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour and meet three authors making waves on the SFF scene. M. H. Ayinde, Marve Anson and Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson discuss their books, creating epic new worlds, and what SFF tells us about the time and place we live in.
The event will be chaired by award-winning author Tasha Suri.
Curated by Future Worlds Prize.
Please note an online recording of this event will be made available for 1 month after the event. Tickets for the streamed recording are available here.
Access information:
- All of our in-person events Friday-Sunday, including this one, will be BSL Interpreted for audiences that require it. For workshops, you will be asked when booking your free ticket if you require the services of a BSL interpreter. For all workshops where one or more attendees require BSL interpretation, we will arrange for an interpreter to be there.
- This event is wheelchair accessible, with accessible toilets.
- Deptford Lounge has Changing Place facilities, an induction loop and assistance dogs are welcome. For more information: deptfordlounge.org.uk/access
- A quiet space is available during the day at Deptford Lounge, in the Music Room, on the first floor.
- If you require additional access provision in order to attend or take part in the Festival, for example, larger print handouts at workshops, or a scribe, please get in touch before the Festival day at: [email protected]
- If you require assistance on the Festival day itself, please come to the Festival Hub in the foyer of Deptford Lounge where we will be happy to help you.
For more information about the access provision available, please visit: spreadtheword.org.uk/access-at-deptford-literature-festival
About the artists and partner
M. H. Ayinde
Festival artist
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M. H. Ayinde was the 2021 winner of the Future Worlds Prize. Her debut epic fantasy trilogy will be published by Orbit Books, beginning in spring 2025 with A Song of Legends Lost. Her short fiction has appeared in FIYAH Literary Magazine, F&SF, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and elsewhere. She is a runner, a lapsed martial artist, and a screen time enthusiast. She lives in London with three generations of her family and their Studio Ghibli obsession.
Marve Anson
Festival artist
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Marve Anson has been writing for over a decade and has self-published a thriller, HIS DARK REFLECTION, to critical acclaim. Her debut fantasy novel, FIRSTBORN OF THE SUN, is the first in a trilogy being published by Penguin Michael Joseph in October 2025. This novel also placed her as a finalist in many competitions, including the 2023 Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour.
Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
Festival artist
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Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson is the Sunday Times Bestselling author of The Order of Legends trilogy. Inaugural winner of the Future Worlds Prize in 2020, her debut novel, The Principle of Moments, was published in January 2024 , by Gollancz. As an author of Nigerian, Jamaican, and British-Australian heritage, her work primarily focuses on people who live at the intersection of identities, whether that’s here on Earth, or in far away galaxies of her own creation.
Tasha Suri
Festival artist
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Tasha Suri is the World Fantasy Award winning author of The Burning Kingdoms Trilogy, The Books of Ambha Duology, What Souls Are Made Of and Doctor Who: The Cradle. Once a librarian, she is now a part-time writing tutor and a full-time cat and rabbit wrangler. She lives with her family in a mildly haunted house in London.
Future Worlds Prize
Festival partner
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Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour is an annual prize for unpublished writers in the UK and Ireland. Now in its 5th year, the prize's previous winners include Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson and M. H. Ayinde. The prize is funded by author Ben Aaronovitch and actor Adjoa Andoh, and supported by a number of publishing partners.