Deborah-Rogers-Foundation-INVERTED

Longlist of nine announced for the 2023 DRF 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 

 

The judges of the 2023 DRF Writers Award are the Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah (Chair), along with award-winning novelist, Claire Adam, and the renowned writer and journalist, Annalena McAfee. They will announce their shortlist of three contenders in November 2023 and the Award will be presented in London on 9th November. £10,000 will be presented to a first-time writer whose submission demonstrates outstanding literary talent and who needs financial support to complete their work. 

The two runners-up will each receive £1,000.  

 

  1. THE DYING EMBERS OF OUR SETTING SUN by Michelle Alipao Chikaonda (essays)

  2. MAUDE GOES TINY by Leon Edler (children’s book)

  3. WE KNOW WHAT THIS IS by Ese Erheriene (novel)

  4. EVERY BIRD FLIES WITH ITS OWN WINGS by Rachael Hassam (novel)

  5. QUALMS by Louis Klee (novel)

  6. THE CAUL by Alicia McAuley (short stories)

  7. THE DEAD DON'T BLEED by Neil Rollinson (novel)

  8. THE RESERVOIRS ARE COLDER AND DEEPER THAN YOU THINK by John Steciuk (short stories)

  9. EXIT INTERVIEW by Isa Tejera (novel)

 

The winner of the 2021 DRF Writers Award was Mathelinda Nabugodi for The Trembling Hand: Reflections of a Black Woman in the Romantic Archive, a work of non-fiction to be published by Hamish Hamilton in the UK and Knopf in the US in 2024.  

Biographical details of the longlisted writers are attached. 

News

Submissions have now closed for the 2021 Writers Award
On 1st July 2021 submissions to the DRF Writers Award closed. The winner will be announced on 7th December 2021 and shortlisted writers will be contacted by email in mid-November 2021.
Deborah Rogers Foundation Announces 2021 Writers Award
Submissions for the DRF 2021 Writers Award can be made between 1st April 2021 until 1st July 2021.
DATE CHANGE: Because of the lockdown the biennial DRF Awards are being transposed.
The 2021 DRF Writers Award will open for submissions on 1st April 2021 and close on 1st July 2021. The next DRF David Miller Bursary will open for applications in late 2021.
IAN RANKIN OBE announces the winner of the 2020 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award
The winner of the 2020 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award is ‘Pemi Aguda for The Suicide Mothers, a work of fiction. Ian Rankin (Chair of the Judges) introduced the three shortlisted authors and then announced the winner who will receive the prize of £10,000.
Shortlist of three announced for the 2020 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award
Judges Ian Rankin OBE (Chair), Sarah Perry and Max Porter announce the shortlist for the 2020 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award. 3 are chosen out of 876 entries and a shortlist of 8.
Prema Raj, winner of the 2019 DRF David Miller Bursary, reports on her time at five publishers in four countries
The winner of the 2019 DRF David Miller Bursary, Prema Raj, has reported on her time spent at five different publishing companies, in Denmark, Italy, the UK and the USA.
Submissions to the 2020 Writers’ Award are now closed.
The winner will be announced in mid-May 2020 and shortlisted writers will be contacted directly.
Deborah Rogers Foundation Announce 2020 DRF Writers Award
Submissions for the DRF 2020 Writers Award can be made between 1st June 2019 until 31st October 2019.
Announcement of winner of the DRF David Miller Bursary Award
The winner of the inaugural Deborah Rogers Foundation Bursary Award is Prema Raj
Applications for the 2019 DRF David Miller Bursary are now closed
The winner will be announced in February 2019. For more information about the DRF David Miller Bursary please visit the bursary page.