Wellcome Collection Non-Fiction Awards

Aimee Cliff is a writer and trainee therapist based in London. She began her career as a music and culture journalist, working as Associate Editor of The FADER and Editor of Dazed Digital. As a freelance writer, she has bylines in The Guardian, Pitchfork, The Independent, Vice, and more. She currently works for a disability charity while completing an MA in counselling and psychotherapy.

Aimee says: “The Spread the Word x Wellcome Collection Writing Awards gave me vital support at a critical point in turning the tiniest seed of an idea into a reality. Knowing where to start with a non-fiction project can be overwhelming, and without this award, I may never have got off the ground. Thanks to this programme, I had time to write, invaluable insights into craft and the industry, and a cohort of talented, generous people offering me feedback. Perhaps most importantly, I was introduced through the programme to my brilliant agent – who helped me sell my book the following year.”

Dylan Brethour is a freelance journalist, editor and fiction writer. She has bylines in the Guardian and the Independent, with essays in Ploughshares and Litro. Her fiction has appeared in places like Spread the Word’s London Short Story Prize anthology and Berfrois. Dylan is currently writing a non-fiction work based on her experience of OCD. Her book proposal won the Wellcome Collection x Spread the Word writing award for ideas that engage with health and being human.

Dylan says: “I applied to the programme with a lot of ideas that hadn’t quite come together yet. Working with Wellcome and Spread the Word was instrumental to shaping my jumble of opinions, experiences, and thoughts into a coherent non-fiction proposal. While the process was challenging, I went from having very little idea of how to pitch a non-fiction book to having a proposal and finding an agent. It made an enormous difference to my writing to learn from the Wellcome editors, my mentor, and the hugely talented writers in the programme.”

James Zatka-Haas is a writer and artist working within the realms of disability art and culture. He has written for disabilityarts.online and has covered the Shape Open, Unlimited Festival and Tate Exchange to name a few. He is interested in the ways meaning is expressed through art and writing, and blends different disciplines together to create an integrated body of thought. Having been born with Cerebral Palsy, James’ work probes what it is to experience the world from an altered perspective, understanding how that perspective shapes the way we see, feel and love.

James says: “The programme was the first opportunity I had to really consider what publishing is all about and how I could potentially go down that path myself. We covered everything from exploring our stylistic voice to the ins and outs of literary agents, proposals and publishers. I would highly recommend the programme to anyone who has an itch to write a book, but could use a helping hand in getting there from some folks who really know what they’re talking about.”

Mashal Iftikhar is an NHS doctor working in psychiatry. She engages in voluntary work for various global health charities which focus on overcoming policing structures in healthcare. She has previously worked for OxPal, an organization which delivers medical education programmes across militarised borders in the Palestinian territories. She is currently engaged in working for MedAct’s campaign against the Prevent duty for NHS workers. Experiences from her career and activism have made her passionate about the impact of securitisation on health services and have gone on to inform the themes on which she writes. She has produced a mixture of pieces that have been published in online platforms such as Skindeep, Media Diversified and Tribune, or produced on stage as theatrical performances at Tara Arts Theatre.

Mashal says: “I am really grateful to the Wellcome Collection and Spread the Word for offering me an amazing opportunity to improve my writing. The mentorship, skills workshops and network opportunities have turned the idea of publishing from a daunting and impossible prospect to something achievable. The experiences I gained and the friends I made will stay with me forever.”

Masud Husain is Professor of Neurology & Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford and Professorial Fellow at New College, Oxford. He has published over 200 research articles, including in Nature and Science and edited the Oxford Textbook of Cognitive Neurology & Dementia. He is Editor-in-Chief of Brain, a leading international journal of neurology. He is a practising clinician with over 25 years of experience of seeing people with a range of neurological conditions. He has been a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (UK) since 2008 and has been awarded Fellowships of the American Academy of Neurology and European Academy of Neurology for his contributions to the field.

His forthcoming book, Our Brains, Our Selves, has been acquired by Canongate.

Masud says: “The programme turned out to be a revelation. It exposed us to what editors and agents are looking for and how to persuade them of the value of our work. It nurtured creativity as well as critical thinking in a very supportive environment which was crucial for my development as a writer. Within a short time, it transformed my half-baked ideas into a cogent book proposal. Overall, it was a fantastic learning opportunity with great people sharing their knowledge and perspectives.”

Rageshri Dhairyawan is a doctor, researcher and author. She is an NHS Consultant in Sexual Health and HIV Medicine based in London. Her clinical work, research, writing and advocacy focus on improving health equity and she is a sought-after speaker on this topic. Rageshri’s own experiences of being unheard as a patient and her work with minoritised communities, have inspired her to speak up about injustice in healthcare.

Rageshri is the author of Unheard: The Medical Practice of Silencing and has contributed an essay to the anthology No One Talks About This Stuff. She is an inaugural Wellcome Collection x Spread the Word writer awardee. Rageshri has written for The Lancet, BMJ Leader and Media Diversified and has appeared on The Victoria Derbyshire Show, Channel 5 News, BBC Woman’s Hour, BBC World Service and BBC Sounds, among others.

Rageshri says: “This scheme has been lifechanging. Getting a place gave me the confidence to believe that I was a writer and that my book idea had merit. The editing and writing mentorship played a significant role in shaping Unheard and the workshops helped me to develop my skills. I was very grateful for the bursary, which gave me the time and space I needed to research and write the proposal. It was also wonderful to share the experience with the fellow awardees and learn from each other. Seeing my book on shelves now feels like an impossible dream, made real.”