The London Writers Awards is Spread the Words’ flagship writer development programme. Originally launched in 2018, the London Writers Awards aims to increase the number of writers from under-represented communities being taken up by agents and publishers. It has supported 120 writers and has become the most successful writer development scheme in the UK with 50 writers agented and over 35 book deals.
In a series of blog posts we will list the writers who completed the programme and the first books that they have published. You can find out more about the other cohorts on these links: Cohort 1 – 2018, Cohort 2 – 2019, Cohort 4 – 2022.
Commercial Fiction
Emma Lowther, Fellow Creatures, 2026
Megan Elliott
Nilesha Chauvet, The Revenge of Rita Marsh, 2024
Rebecca Lewis
Rosemary Amadi
Tracey Weller
Literary Fiction
Anne Elicano-Shields
Ashani Lewis, Winter Animals, 2024
Cecile Pin, Wandering Souls, 2023
Eleanor Penny, Mercy, 2021
Gabrielle Johnson
Paige Cowan-Hall
Santanu Bhattacharya, One Small Voice, 2023
Sharanya Murali
Shereen Akhtar, Rabbi/Robin, 2024
Sukh Brar
Tom Newlands, Only Here, Only Now, 2024
Tommy Rowlands
Victoria Cano
Narrative Non-Fiction
Carla Montemayor
Elizabeth Chan
Joyia Fitch
Lavendhri Arumugam
Sabrina Mahtani
Sarah Clement
YA/Children’s Fiction
Deshani Shan
Laura Leung-How
Remi Oshibanjo
Serena deCordova