Caleb Azumah Nelson’s Open Water and J.A. Mensah’s Castles from Cobwebs are on the 2021 Desmond Elliott Prize longlist.
One of the most prestigious awards for debut novelists in the UK, The Desmond Elliott Prize awards £10,000 to an author to help in shaping their developing career. Ten novels are longlisted for the prize from which three shortlisted novels are selected by a panel of expert judges.
Lisa McInerney, the chair of the judging panel said: ‘It is a personal delight to chair the judging panel of the Desmond Elliott Prize five years after Iain Pears, Sam Baker and Katy Guest chose The Glorious Heresies as their winner. So we can keep literature in rude health, a writer who finds success should never pull the ladder up after herself, and this is one way for me to hold that ladder for emerging writers, to pass on the welcome and encouragement and assistance I’ve been so lucky to get from my peers. This is why I was so pleased to hear of the inclusion of a programme of support from the National Centre for Writing — what a positive and important expansion to the prize. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Chitra, Simon and me.”
The winning author will be celebrated at an event in July 2021, receiving the £10,000 prize to support their writing future, alongside a year of support from the UK National Centre for Writing.
Visit here to see other writers on the longlist.
Image Source: The Desmond Elliot Prize Longlist
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