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


The Writers Award longlist is now confirmed and successful entrants have been notified by email.
Applications for the DRF David Miller Internship programme for 2023 are now open. Interviews in mid July, placements from mid-September to run for 6 weeks.
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 early July, placements from mid-September to run for 6 weeks.
On 31st March 2023 submissions to the DRF Writers Award closed. The longlisted writers will be contacted by email September 2023 and the winner will be announced October 2023
The first two fledgling publishing professionals to be offered the David Miller Internship Programme reflect on what the scheme taught them, ahead of taking another step forward at this year’s London Book Fair.
Submissions for the DRF 2023 Writers Award can be made between 1st January 2023 until 31st March 2023.
The 2023 DRF Writers Award will open for submissions on 1st January 2023 and close on 31st March.
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 early July, placements in September for 6 weeks.
Mathelinda Nabugodi wins the 2021 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award. Runners-up are Yasmine Awwad and Sophie Meadows. Judges were Colm Tóibín, Deepa Anappara, Anna James and Ingrid Persaud. The winner receives £10,000. Runners-up each receive £1,000
It is with regret that we are announcing that the 2021 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award will be moving to a virtual format this year, meaning that the in-person event scheduled at The Amadeus in London is now cancelled.