Desperate Literature Prize partners with The Literary Consultancy

The Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize has announced a new landmark partnership with The Literary Consultancy and revealed the judging line-up for 2022. 

This year's prize for innovative short fiction under 2,000 words will be judged by New York Times-bestselling author Ottessa Moshfegh, Goldsmiths Prize-shortlisted novelist Natasha Brown (pictured) and author Joanna Walsh, along with award-winning literary translator Anton Hur.  

The prize, launched by Madrid’s Desperate Literature bookshop in 2017, will this year partner with 15 different literary organisations, including writers' residencies, bookshops, literary journals, a literary agent and, for the first time, with The Literary Consultancy (TLC) to offer a long-form manuscript assessment and consultancy service to the winner of the 2022 prize.  

In this new partnership, the winner will receive a manuscript assessment service of up to 60,000 words through TLC, as well as a one-to-one editorial consultancy session with one of TLC’s editors, to take place online via Zoom. The prize’s winner will also receive €1,500, a seven-day stay at the Civitella Ranieri artist’s residency in Umbria, Italy, and a consultation with London-based literary agent Charlotte Seymour of Johnson & Alcock.  

The winner and the other shortlisted authors will also be published in a limited-edition anthology book by Desperate Literature, have their work put forward for publication to the prize’s eight partner journals, and will be invited to read at events in Madrid (Desperate Literature), London (Burley Fisher Books) and Edinburgh (Typewronger Books) in late 2022.  

Two runners-up will receive €750, as well as a consultation meeting with Seymour, while one other shortlisted writer will be offered a spot at the Tbilisi International Festival of Literature, along with a 10-day residency at the Writers’ House of Georgia. A travel stipend of €400 will be provided.  

A minimum of 20 free sponsored entries are being made available by Desperate Literature to underrepresented writers or writers suffering from financial hardship, as well as a further 30 reduced-fee entries. These can be applied for by emailing prize@desperateliterature.com. A further package of free sponsored entries have been offered to the London-based writers agency Spread the Word (10 places), and the Georgia Writers’ House of Georgia (three).  

The partner journals for the 2022 prize are Kill Your Darlings (Australia), Gorse Journal (Ireland), Helter Skelter (India), and the UK publications Hotel, the London Magazine, Prototype, Open Pen and Minor Literature[s]. All partner journals will have the opportunity to publish pieces from the 2022 shortlist.  

Desperate Literature is an international bookshop in the heart of Madrid, founded in 2014. It sells books in English, French and Spanish, working to build a literary community around and through these literatures. The store launched the prize five years ago to celebrate writers of innovative, experimental and boundary-pushing fiction, while providing these writers with a holistic set of resources and opportunities at a formative stage of their writing careers. In 2021, the award went to Paige Cowan-Hall, and its runners-up were Isha Karki and Nick Mulgrew. 

For full details on the Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize, visit desperateliterature.com/prize.