PFD to launch Queer Fiction Prize

Literary agency Peters Fraser + Dunlop is launching the PFD Queer Fiction Prize, with author Okechukwu Nzelu among the judges for the inaugural award.

The prize will have three separate categories for Adult, YA and Children’s Fiction.Three winners will receive representation at PFD and guidance for completing their novel. The recipients of the prize will be announced in June 2022.

Judging the adult category alongside Nzelu (pictured right) will be PFD agent Cara Lee Simpson. Fellow PFD author E Latimer (pictured left) will judge the YA and Children’s categories alongside agents Silvia Molteni and Lucy Irvine, with support from Daisy Chandley.

The prize is open to anyone who identifies as LGBTQIA+ and who is unagented and in the process of writing a piece of fiction. Applicants are asked to submit a three-chapter sample and synopsis. Submissions do not necessarily have to be about queer and LGBTQIA+ experiences as long as the writer identifies as such, though PFD are especially interested in stories with queer or LGBTIA+ characters or themes.

In a joint statement, the agents running the prize said: “We are very excited to be launching this fiction prize at PFD to find new talented LGBTQI+ writers. As well as celebrating diverse perspectives, it will also offer an opportunity for authors at the beginning of their journey to benefit from support in writing to the end of their novel with the backing of an agent, making the process more accessible to writers from a range of backgrounds, writing across all ages. We are really looking forward to seeing our first submissions for the prize and to working with the three winners.”

Applications open on 1st December 2021 and will close on 1st March 2022. The shortlists will be announced in May 2022 and the winners soon after in June.