Scottish Book Trust today announces the 10 recipients of the New Writers Awards 2022, which provide a selection of talented writers who have not yet published a full-length book or collection with professional guidance to help them move towards publication, as well as financial support.
Funded by Creative Scotland and run by Scottish Book Trust, the national charity transforming lives through reading and writing, the awards have supported over 140 creative individuals since 2009.
Six of the awardees this year are based in Edinburgh, including: Agata Maslowska from Poland; Helena Fornells Nada from Barcelona; Roshni Gallagher from Leeds; Armarna Forbes from Colorado; Eimear Bush from Northern Ireland and Firas Ibrahim from Syria.
The judging panel included: Jenny Colgan, Sheena Kalayil and Viccy Adams for fiction; Jen Campbell, Sean Wai Keung and Laura Fyfe for poetry; Akemi Dawn Bowman and Ross Sayers for Children’s and Young Adult fiction, alongside Scottish Book Trust staff.
The Gaelic Books Council selects the Gaelic New Writer Awardee.
Former New Writers awardees include: Bridget Khursheed, whose poetry collection The Last Days of Petrol was recently published by Shearsman Books; Sarah Smith, whose debut novel Hear No Evil will be published by Hachette; and Catherine Simpson, whose memoir One Body will be published by Saraband, both in February.
The 2022 awardees are:
Poetry:
Agata Maslowska
Helena Fornells Nadal
Roshni Gallagher
Children’s and Young Adult:
Armarna Forbes
Lindsay Hirst
Fiction and Narrative Non-Fiction:
Dougie Strang
Eimear Bush
Firas Ibrahim
Rae Cowie
Gaelic:
Shelagh Campbell
Each of the 10 recipients will receive a £2,000 cash award and support tailored to their needs including mentoring from writers and industry professionals, training opportunities, and the platform to showcase their work to publishers and agents.
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “Announcing our New Writer Awardees is a fantastic way to start 2022. Some of this year’s cohort have interacted with other Scottish Book Trust programmes, and we are delighted they have reached this stage of their journey.
“We wish all the awardees best of luck and look forward to seeing their publications in the future.”
Alan Bett, Head of Literature and Publishing, Creative Scotland said: “Scottish Book Trust’s New Writers awards recognise the wealth of talent in the ranks of Scotland’s developing writers and takes these individuals to the next level through tailored mentoring and training.
“It’s exciting to think that the names on this list have the potential to sit across book spines in the near future, on published collections of poetry, novels or works of non-fiction. Creative Scotland wishes the best of luck to each of them.”
Alison Lang, Director of the Gaelic Books Council, said: “We are delighted be partnering with Scottish Book Trust once again to support an emerging Gaelic writer.
“We will be following Shelagh Campbell’s progress with interest as she works on her new crime novel, and we very much look forward to seeing this and other work in print in due course.”
The New Writers Showcase, a celebration of work by last year’s awardees, will be held online through Scottish Book Trust’s social media accounts on Wednesday 6 April. Information about tickets will be available on Scottish Book Trust’s website.
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