DHA announces 10 writers to attend agency's inaugural open day

David Higham Associates has selected the 10-strong shortlist of writers who will attend its inaugural DHA Open Day for Under-Represented Writers.

As announced in July, the day-long event, scheduled for 13th December, offers 10 scribes the chance to meet with industry experts and to receive tailored feedback on their work.

Since the open call, the agency has reported "a huge response" with over 150 new writers sending in applications across a wide range of genres. The standard of submissions was said to be "high".

Read widely across the agency, a shortlist of ten writers has now been determined. They are: Nick Allen, Ollie Charles, Eliza Clark, Mark Hawkins, Tina Mander, CG Menon, Benedict Morrison, Jane Pessoa Quiambao, Jon Ransom and Nudrat Siddiqui.

Each of the writers will spend the day at DHA's offices in December receiving one-to-one editorial support on their submissions from agents. They will also hear from the Translation Rights and Film/TV Departments, as well as getting a publisher’s perspective from Bloomsbury editor Alexa von Hirschberg and hearing from Amer Anwar, author of Brothers of Blood (Little, Brown), about his journey to publication.

DHA’s second Open Day will take place in 2019 and will focus on writing for children.