Deborah-Rogers-Foundation-INVERTED

The longlist for the Deborah Rogers Award 2025 is announced - six short story collections and five novels in the running.

Ten Years of Nurturing New Voices

The Deborah Rogers Award Announces 2025 Longlist

The Deborah Rogers Foundation (DRF) marks a decade of supporting emerging literary talent with a refreshed identity for its flagship prize, now renamed the Deborah Rogers Award. The biennial award continues its mission to champion new voices in fiction and non-fiction, offering a £10,000 prize to an unpublished writer to complete their first book, alongside £3,000 each for two shortlisted authors.

This year’s longlist of eleven features a vibrant mix of six short story collections and five novels. Writers from Nigeria and Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Bangalore, England and Eire, showcase the breadth and diversity of contemporary writing:

  • Yellow is Not for Girls Like Me – June Aming (novel)
  • Ascension – Piers Kobina Buckman (novel)
  • Quarehawks – Fearghal Hall (stories)
  • A Good Woman – Lizzie Golds (stories)
  • We Can Start This Story – Tega Oghenechovwen (stories)
  • Tales of Shawq – Leeor Ohayon (stories)
  • Happy When – Jenny O'Donnell (novel)
  • Do You Think I'm a Bad Person? – Olakunle Ologunro (stories)
  • Breathwork – Rosa Mäkelä (stories)
  • Ratri – Saranya Murthi (novel)
  • She Herself is a Haunted House – Georgia Poplett (novel)

The shortlist will be revealed on 22 October 2025 by this year’s distinguished judging panel: Erica Wagner (Chair), Inua Ellams, and Natalie Haynes. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on 4 November 2025.

For the history of the prize, details of former judges and all the past winners, see https://www.deborahrogersfoundation.org/writers-award

News

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The judges of the 2025 Deborah Rogers Award—renowned author and literary critic Erica Wagner (chair), award-winning playwright and poet Inua Ellams, and acclaimed writer, classicist, and broadcaster Natalie Haynes —are pleased to announce the three contenders for this year's prize.
The longlist for the Deborah Rogers Award 2025 is announced - six short story collections and five novels in the running.
The Deborah Rogers Foundation (DRF) marks a decade of supporting emerging literary talent with a refreshed identity for its flagship prize, now renamed the Deborah Rogers Award.
Summer Newsletter 2025
On 4 November, judges Erica Wagner, Inua Ellams and Natalie Haynes will award the winner £10,000 to complete their first book, with highly commended entries receiving £3,000 each.