Deborah Rogers Foundation launches with new Writers Award


YOU CAN FIND THE BURSARY PAGE HERE

 

9th October 2015

 

  • £10,000 award to enable writer to complete their first book

It is now 18 months since the universally loved and respected literary agent, Deborah Rogers, died. Her sudden death sent a shockwave through the world of publishing and the many writers, publishers and agents whose lives she had touched. Deborah’s particular genius lay in identifying and supporting talented young people. She herself said “I want to work with books that make me feel ennobled” and the Deborah Rogers Foundation (DRF) has therefore been set up in her memory to continue to seek out and nurture new talent.

The board of the Foundation, chaired by Lord Berkeley of Knighton, Deborah’s widower, comprises people who knew and loved Deborah, including RCW colleagues Gill Coleridge and Peter Straus with David Miller as secretary. The Members of the Foundation, which includes writers Ian McEwan and William Fiennes, are listed below.

The first initiative of the Deborah Rogers Foundation, announced on the eve of the Frankfurt Book Fair, is a £10,000 award for a first-time writer whose work demonstrates literary talent but who needs financial support to complete their first book. This can be fiction, non-fiction and short stories but not poetry.

To be eligible, writers – who must reside within the British Commonwealth and Eire and whose work must be written in the English language – are required to submit a minimum 20-30,000 words of literary merit. The closing date for submissions is 31 January 2016 and the inaugural Writers Award will be presented in Summer 2016. (Full submission details here.)

Gill Coleridge comments, "Deborah was both a dear friend and an inspirational colleague to all at RCW. She had impeccable taste and a generous heart, and one of her most endearing characteristics was the interest and support she gave to new writers, wherever they came from. The inauguration of the Deborah Rogers Foundation is the means to ensure that her legacy to the publishing world will be continued and the Writers Award will adopt precisely the same approach to first-time writers as Deborah did in person."

Deborah Rogers Foundation

Chair:

  • Lord Berkeley of Knighton CBE

Directors:

  • Gill Coleridge, RCW
  • Tamsin Eastwood
  • Dotti Irving
  • Peter Straus, RCW

Members include:

  • David Miller, RCW (Secretary)
  • Richard Cable
  • Liz Calder
  • Carmen Callil
  • William Fiennes
  • Peter Florence
  • Andrew Franklin
  • Ian McEwan
  • Stephen Page
  • Baroness Rebuck DBE

News


The Deborah Rogers Foundation announces that submissions for the 2025 DRF Writers Award will open on 1st January and close on 31st March 2025.
DRF 2025: The 2025 Writers Award will open for entries 1st January - 31st March 2025 and the Judges are announced. Read the David Miller Internship report.
Entries for the 2025 Writers Award will be sought from 1 January 2025 until 31 March 2025. The winner of the Award will be announced in November next year.
Leanne Francis and Lena Bruns have been selected as the successful candidates for the 2024 David Miller Internship Programme. Two paid internships provide an entry level insight into rights and agenting in publishing. Placements begin in September and include a visit to the Frankfurt Book Fair 2024.
Announcing the return of the DRF David Miller Internship Programme in partnership with Creative Access. Two paid internships providing an entry level insight into rights and agenting in publishing. Focus on attracting candidates from communities under-represented in the industry. Interviews in June, 6-week placements from mid-September including a visit to the Frankfurt Book Fair 2024.
April 2024 marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Deborah Rogers, after which this Foundation was set up in her memory. So this seems the appropriate moment to celebrate the positive impact that the DRF has made to our industry by supporting emerging talent in the publishing world.
Winning candidates Milan Sehmbi and Wiggy Bob Snow spent six weeks on placement with literary agencies and publishing companies to gain an insight into the world of publishing rights.
Judges Abdulrazak Gurnah, Claire Adam and Annalena McAfee announce Neil Rollison as the winner of the 2023 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award for his work, The Dead Don’t Bleed.
Judges Abdulrazak Gurnah, Claire Adam and Annalena McAfee announce the shortlist for the 2023 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award.
Nobel Prize winner, Abdulrazak Gurnah, chairs a panel of three judges. The winner receives £10,000 to complete first book. DRF Writers Award to be presented on 9th November in London