Deborah-Rogers-Foundation-INVERTED

Ten Years on: the Deborah Rogers Foundation announces the 2025 Writers Award

Ten Years on: the Deborah Rogers Foundation announces the  2025 Writers Award 

●    Erica Wagner chairs a panel of three judges
●    Founded in 2015, the DRF Writers Award returns for 2025 celebrating ten years of championing new writing 
●    The winner receives £10,000 to complete first book
Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award

The Deborah Rogers Foundation announces that submissions for the 2025 DRF Writers Award will open on 1st January and close on 31st March 2025. 

The judges of the 2025 DRF Writers Award will be the renowned author and literary critic Erica Wagner (chair), the award-winning playwright and poet Inua Ellams and Natalie Haynes, the acclaimed writer, broadcaster, classicist and comedian. 

They will announce the shortlist of three in October and the Award will be presented in November 2025. 

The DRF Writers Award was established in 2015 and over the past decade has helped to launch the careers of internationally bestselling authors. 

Three previous winners of the Award will have their books published in 2025: Mathelinda Nabugodi’s non-fiction work, The Trembling Hand: Reflections of a Black Woman in the Romantic Archive will be published by Hamish Hamilton/Knopf, ‘Pemi Aguda’s novel The Suicide Mothers will be published by Virago/WN Norton and Masobe in Nigeria, and Neil Rollinson’s novel The Dead Don’t Bleed will be published by Jonathan Cape.
 

News

Writers Award Winner Sharlene Teo to be published in April
We are delighted that the winner of the inaugural Writers Award, Sharlene Teo’s debut novel, Ponti, will be published by Picador in the UK in April 2018 and by Simon & Schuster in the US in September 2018. It is currently sold in seven other languages.
Writers Award shortlisted author Guy Stagg’s ‘The Crossway’ to be published in June
The Crossway is an account of Guy Stagg’s extraordinary pilgrimage from Canterbury to Jerusalem. It will be published by Picador on the 14th June 2018 and will be BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week from the 18th June 2018.
Sam Coates, winner of The DRF David Miller Bursary, reports on his time at four publishers
The winner of the inaugural DRF David Miller Bursary, Sam Coates, has reported on his time spent at four different publishing companies. The report is now available to read in this post.
Shortlist for the Writers Award to be announced on the 2nd May and the winner on 16th May
The shortlist for the 2018 DRF Writers Award will be announced on Wednesday 2nd May. The Award itself will be presented by Anne Enright on Wednesday 16th May at an event in London
DRF shortlisted book 'The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock' published.
We are delighted to announce the publication of The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar this month by Harvill Secker.
Submissions to the Writers’ Award are now closed
At 6pm on Wednesday 13th December submissions to the DRF Writers’ Award closed. The winner will be announced in May 2018 and shortlisted writers will be contacted directly.
Only a week to go before the submissions close for the 2018 Writers’ Award
Submissions for the 2018 Writers’ Award close on 13th December.
Deborah Rogers Foundation Announces Second DRF Writers Award (2018)
Submissions open from 1 October until 13 December 2017. Man Booker winner, Anne Enright, to chair the judges. Ponti, winner of the inaugural award, already sold in 8 countries
The 2018 DRF Writers Award
Submissions for the 2018 Writers Award will open on 1st October 2017 and close on 13th December 2017.
Announcement of winner of the Deborah Rogers Foundation Bursary Award
The winner of the inaugural Deborah Rogers Foundation Bursary Award is Sam Coates, Senior Rights Executive of Vintage Books, PRH. The Bursary will henceforth be known as the DRF David Miller Bursary in memory of David Miller (1966-2016) who worked at RCW and was a founding member of the DRF Bursary.