Chidi Ebere and Allyson Shaw among Christopher Bland Prize shortlist for debut authors over 50

The Royal Society of Literature’s Christopher Bland Prize shortlist for debut authors aged 50 and above has been announced, with the shortlisted authors hailing it as a spotlight on "older people" who might otherwise be "trivialised or erased".

The five shortlistees include Chidi Ebere for Now I Am Here (Pan Macmillan), Carole Hailey for The Silence Project (Atlantic Books), Rachel Meller for The Box with the Sunflower Clasp (Icon Books), Tom Parfitt for High Caucasus (Headline) and Allyson Shaw’s Ashes & Stones: A Scottish Journey in Search of Witches and Witness ((Hodder & Stoughton).

Now in its sixth year, the annual prize awards £10,000 to a debut novelist or non-fiction writer whose first book was published after they turned 50.

Shortlistee Ebere said being shortlisted was “a wonderful feeling” that had given him “an intense glow of quiet satisfaction”. 

Hailey said being shortlisted was “very special because all too often people can feel that if they haven’t achieved their ambitions by the age of 50, it’s no longer possible.”

Meller, who started work on her book when she was 60, said: “This incredible honour proves that, whatever your age, it’s never too late to pursue a dream you’ve had all your life.”

Parfitt described his shortlisting as “an affirmation of that long-haul, and of finally getting published as I tootled into maturity.” 

Shaw said: “Some books can only be written on the other side of 50. It’s satisfying to know that the stories of people I have written about, many of them older women trivialised and erased, are also being heard.”

This year’s judges are Josh Cohen, Niall Griffiths and Shaparak Khorsandi. The winner will be announced online at 9am on Wednesday 10th July.