RSL takes on £10k Encore Award

The Royal Society of Literature is adding the Encore Award, a £10,000 prize for the best second novel of the year, to its portfolio of literary awards and prizes.

First presented in 1990, the Encore Award celebrates the achievement of "outstanding" second novels. It has been independently run by Lucy Astor, the sponsor, and her team, for a number of years.

This year’s judges of the prize are critic, journalist and broadcaster Alex Clark, poet and children’s author Julia Copus, and Ted Hodgkinson, senior programmer for literature and spoken word at Southbank Centre.

Lisa Appignanesi, chair of the RSL, said: “Literary lore as well as practice tells us that second novels are ever the most daunting. They even have a syndrome named after them. That’s why I’ve always been particularly fond of the Encore Award, the brilliant prize that acknowledges the difficulties of the second novel. I’m thrilled that the RSL will now be a partner in its running.”

Astor, founder of the award, added: “I am delighted by this affiliation between the Encore Award and the RSL. It will undoubtedly raise the profile of the prize but, more importantly, of its winners.”

Entries for the RSL Encore Award must be published within 2016, and should be submitted by 30th November 2016. A shortlist of no more than six books will be announced in March 2017, and the winner will be announced in April 2017.