Inaugural winner of The Bridport Prize Memoir award signed by A M Heath 

Joanne Briggs has won the inaugural memoir award from international creative writing competition The Bridport Prize.

Her memoir, The Scientist Who Wasn’t There, is about her father, an influential scientist who died suddenly at the age of 51. Judge Cathy Rentzenbrink said “it felt like a page turner with a mystery to solve, but also promised a meditation on what it means to a child to know the flaws of their parents".

The memoir category of the prize was launched in June 2022. Briggs wins £1,500 plus a mentoring package from The Literary Consultancy, a consultation with A M Heath (which has now signed her), advice from an editor at Hachette’s John Murray and a chance to take part in an online seminar with Professor Sam North from the University of Exeter’s English department. The opening chapters of the memoir will be published on the Bridport Prize website.

On signing Briggs, Euan Thorneycroft from A M Heath said: “Everyone has a book in them – Martin Amis thought this claim untrue. Rather, he said, everyone has a memoir inside them. And in a world which seems ever more polarised and divided, finding ways to tell our own stories can help us to be better at stepping into the shoes of others.

"All the shortlisted entries, as well inviting us into the experience of specific individual lives, also told us something different about the world, using storytelling to move, excite and intrigue us.”

Briggs said: “Approaching my 60th year, I realised that just wishing was not going to make writing a part of the next phase of my life, and I wanted it to be. This submission was my 59th birthday present to myself. I thought I could put something together around the 8,000-word limit, then see what happened.”

Runner up Sheereen Khan received a free entry to the competition as part of The Bridport Prize’s bursary scheme for underrepresented writers. She receives £750 as well as a mentoring package. Her memoir Belonging, Biryani and Bacon “demonstrates how food was the glue in the marriage between her white, Irish, Catholic mother and brown, Muslim, Indian father” and “was the entry point for learning about their different backgrounds, customs and beliefs.”

Renzenbrink said “the food feels a clever and organic way to discuss the culture clashes”, adding: “I loved reading about colcannon and dal, their differing attitudes to everything, and about the author trying to crochet her two cultures together.”

Three highly commended authors receive £150. These are: Caroline Litman for My Fourth Child; S B Long for Blood, Bone, Breath, Earth and Patricia Debney for Learning to Survive.