Pemi Aguda wins 2020 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award

Pemi Aguda from Lagos, Nigeria, has won 2020's £10,000 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award for her "gripping" work of fiction, The Suicide Mothers. 

The prize-winner was announced by author Ian Rankin who, in his capacity as chair of the judges, praised Aguda's winning novel as "a wonderfully kinetic and gripping story".

"This novel begins with a real wow moment and sustains momentum as it draws us into a world that is utterly contemporary yet has room for the mythic and the supernatural," he said. "The politics of Lagos, environmental concerns and the coming of age of the young and pregnant protagonist make for a wonderfully kinetic and gripping story."

Rankin judged the prize with authors Sarah Perry and Max Porter. Perry hailed Aguda's novel as "tremendously gripping", saying: "I'm sure it will reach a wide audience."

Also recognised, and awarded £1,000 in prize money apiece, were works of fiction by Stephen Buoro, who took second place with The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa, and S Bhattacharya-Woodward, who took third place with Zolo and Other Stories. 

Rankin said Buoro's novel "exudes a wonderfully vivid sense of place and leads the reader inside the head of its teenage hero as he sets off to locate his 'real' mother. It’s a narrative of depth that also manages to be instantly engaging."

He also said Bhattacharya-Woodward's short stories were "humane, quirky and moving" adding: "They look with intensity at contemporary urban life, focussing on the good as well as the bad."

The winners were selected from a longlist of eight, which had previously been chosen by agents at Rogers Coleridge & White after reading 876 entries. 

Rankin commended all the longlisted entries – from authors Brendan Casey, Kate Ellis, Aisling Flynn, Helen Longstreth and Sydney Weinberg, also – predicting a "bright future" for all of them.

"We encountered a series of unique and powerful authorial voices from many corners of the globe. As a reader I found myself challenged, enthralled, amused and given fresh insights into the casts of characters and their individual worldscapes," he said.

"I don’t doubt that the whole longlist has a bright future in literary endeavour, and I congratulate them."

Gill Coleridge, director of the Deborah Rogers Foundation, commented: "We have once again been very excited to discover three extraordinary new voices representing the best of new contemporary writing and feel privileged to read their work at the beginning of their careers. The great success of the previous winners of the 2016 and 2018 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award has already brought distinction and renown to the foundation and we are confident that the talented winners here tonight will enhance and continue that trajectory."

The winner of the 2018 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award was Deepa Anappara for her novel Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line and the winner of the inaugural 2016 Award was Sharlene Teo for her novel Ponti. 

The virtual ceremony, including all speeches, can be found at www.deborahrogersfoundation.org.