Hachette UK unveils shortlist for £2,500 Mo Siewcharran Prize

Hachette UK has announced a shortlist of five writers in contention for this year’s £2,500 Mo Siewcharran Prize.

Launched in 2019 to discover unpublished fiction writers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, this year the prize – run as part of Hachette UK’s The Future Bookshelf scheme – is being hosted by Quercus Books.

The prize is hosted by different divisions of the publisher each year and this year Quercus is focusing on fiction writers in the crime and thriller genre specifically.

The prize was named in memory of Nielsen BookData’s former director of marketing and communications, which is co-founded and sponsored by Mo Siewcharran’s husband John Seaton, and aims to nurture talent from underrepresented backgrounds writing in English.

This year’s shortlist features Incarnations of an English Subject by Kalbinder Dayal, The Search for Othella Savage by Foday Mannah, Arranged Murder by Faaiza Munir, Their Unseen Truth by Kingsley Pearson and The Labelled Bones by Felicity Yeoh.

The first round was judged by members of Quercus and employees from other Hachette UK divisions.

The shortlist was judged by Quercus fiction publisher Cassie Brown, Quercus publisher Stefanie Bierwerth, winner of the 2021 prize Santanu Bhattacharya, literary agent Camilla Bolton, crime fiction critic Ayo Onatade, Ella Patel, co-chair of Hachette’s employee network THRIVE, and Quercus authors Elly Griffiths and Amen Alonge.

The winner and runners-up will be announced at the overall award ceremony on Wednesday 28th September. The winner of the prize will receive £2,500 plus editorial feedback in the form of a two-to-three-page editorial letter from a Quercus editor, as well as a follow up one-hour editorial session with a Quercus editor, either online or in person.

They will also have introductory meetings with at least two different literary agents, an introductory session with the Quercus rights team and meetings with the publisher’s marketing and publicity teams.

The winner’s novel will also be taken forward to the next Quercus acquisitions meeting and be considered for full publication with an advance against royalties.

Second place will receive £1,500, editorial feedback in a 2-3-page letter from a Quercus editor and a book hamper. Third place receives £750 plus a hamper of books.