Authors Oyeyemi and Mortimer join judging panel for Goldsmiths Prize 2023 

Authors Helen Oyeyemi, Maddie Mortimer, the New Statesman’s Ellen Peirson-Hagger and lecturer in creative writing at Goldsmiths Tom Lee will form the judging panel for this year’s Goldsmit’s Prize.

Launched by Goldsmiths, University of London, in association with the New Statesman in 2013, the annual £10,000 prize for fiction at its most novel recognises writing that breaks the mould, opens up new possibilities for the form and embodies the spirit of invention.

Chair of judges Lee, author of a collection of short stories, Greenfly (Harvill Secker), and a novel, The Alarming Palsy of James Orr (Granta Books), said: “Over the past 10 years the Goldsmiths Prize has changed the literary landscape and I am thrilled to be chairing the panel of judges as it continues to discover and celebrate the most innovative novels of 2023.”

Mortimer’s first novel, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies (Picador), was longlisted for the Booker Prize, shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize, and won the Desmond Elliot Prize, awarded to the best debut novel written in English and published in the UK and Ireland.

Oyeyemi is the author of 10 books, including What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours (Picador), Gingerbread (Picador), and her latest novel, Peaces (Faber & Faber), which was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize 2022.

Peirson-Hagger is assistant culture editor of the New Statesman. Her work includes reviews of books and music, interviews with prominent figures and reports on the culture industries.

The prize opens for submissions on 27th January. The shortlist will be announced on 4th October and the winner on 8th November.

Authors of any nationality are eligible provided they have been resident in the UK or Republic of Ireland for a minimum of three years and their submitted novel has been published there.

Last year, Natasha Soobramanien and Luke Williams won the prize for their novel Diego Garcia (Fitzcarraldo), the first time in the history of the prize that a duo had won. Published in May 2022,  Diego Garcia was a long-term collaboration between them and took 10 years to complete.