Annukka wins Women’s Prize Discoveries award

Sui Annukka has won the Women’s Prize Trust’s Discoveries writing award for her “original, intriguing” coming-of-age novel in progress Thursday. 

The award, which is supported by  Audible, Curtis Brown and the Curtis Brown Creative writing school, aims to find untapped female writing talent from across the UK and Ireland. 

Chosen from more than 2,500 entries and a shortlist of 15, Thursday tells the story of three characters whose lives collide as they all seek to escape desperate circumstances on the same momentous day.

Annukka has accepted an offer of representation from Jess Molloy at Curtis Brown and will receive a cash prize of £5,000 alongside the opportunity to workshop her manuscript with an Audible editor, who will be specifically matched to her writing style and genre.

The writer grew up between London and Colombo, Sri Lanka, and studied drama at the University of Bristol. She left her career in film art direction to focus on her writing and has had poetry and short fiction published in multiple anthologies. She currently lives in London where she works as a teaching assistant in a high school.

“I am 50 this year,” Annukka said. “For me, writing has been a lifelong conversation with parts of myself that are mostly invisible to the world. In more ways than I can say, writing has saved me. The opportunity to now share my work more widely is a huge privilege.

“Winning this prize marks the start of a new adventure. It is a lot to take in. Much humility and courage, and wisdom, are needed. I want to develop as a writer. I want to create work that is beautiful. And I want to support and champion the writing of the 15 other wonderful women with whom I was longlisted. We are on this path together and we have so much to learn from each other. Thank you to the Women’s Prize, Curtis Brown and Audible for giving us all this extraordinary opportunity. So, let’s begin. Let’s do this. It’s going to be amazing.”

The judging panel was chaired by Kate Mosse, novelist, playwright and founder-director of the Women’s Prize; Lucy Morris, Curtis Brown literary agent; Anna Davis, founder and m.d. of Curtis Brown Creative writing school; and authors Ayisha Malik and Irenosen Okojie.

Mosse said: “The judging panel was delighted by this original, intriguing and engaging novel. Strong and distinctive female characters, a strong sense of place, with the tension of a thriller and the charm of a coming-of-age story, we cannot wait to read more. Huge congratulations to Sui Annukka.” 

Nikki Logan was named the Discoveries Scholar, selected from a shortlist of six. She will receive a scholarship to attend a three-month Writing Your Novel course with Curtis Brown Creative, where she will work further on her novel-in-progress, The Last Card in the Suit, alongside 15 other writers.

Logan has a degree in photography and has been a commercial writer for 13 years, with articles published in regional magazines and newspapers. The inspiration for her novel was her grandfather’s experience of life as a British West Indian in 1940s Jamaica and Deep South USA before moving to England in 1950. She began recording his life story nearly 10 years ago and has immersed herself in research ever since.

“I was shocked to have even made the longlist, so to have been shortlisted and now named the Discoveries Scholar feels like a lot to take in,” she said. “The support that comes with this will be invaluable. It’s the start of something very exciting and an achievement I will be proud of forever.”

In a joint statement, Morris and Davis said: “We are thrilled to name Sui Annukka as our Discoveries winner. An ambitious and hugely talented writer with a gift for bringing her characters instantly and compellingly to life, Sui’s entry Thursday was utterly unputdownable! We are also delighted to announce Nikki Logan as the Discoveries scholar for The Last Card in the Suit. We are excited to support Nikki as she continues to transform her years of incredible research into a vividly realised, beguilingly told page-turner that will capture readers’ hearts. And, of course, we are so eager to see where each of our talented shortlistees and longlistees take their novels-in-progress.”

Aurelie de Troyer, senior vice president of international content at Audible, added : “In our first year of sponsoring and working on the Discoveries programme, we couldn’t be more impressed with the shortlist and the winning writer. We want to offer Sui our warmest congratulations. We can’t wait to workshop Sui’s story at Audible and pair her with the perfect editor to discuss writing for audio. We are also excited to meet all the shortlisted authors later this summer when we host them at Audible Studios to demonstrate the process of audiobook creation.”