Ten writers shortlisted for inaugural (Re)Presenting Romance award

Ten writers have been shortlisted for HarperFiction and The Good Literary Agency’s inaugural (Re)Presenting Romance award, a mentoring scheme for underrepresented writers, supported by Stylist magazine.

The list covers a wide range of love stories, including a writer desperate to prove that soulmates exist to save her career, two best friends faking a relationship to get ahead at work, a queer love triangle in Nottingham, and an ensemble story of intertwining love lives in an extended friendship group in north London.

The scheme aims to develop and mentor romance writers from underrepresented backgrounds, including writers of colour, disabled writers, LGBTQ+ writers and working-class writers. 

One winner will receive a £1,000 writing grant from HarperCollins, plus a year of mentoring. Two runners-up will also receive a year of mentoring. The overall winner will be announced in the week of 17th October.

Sarah Saville is shortlisted for Camera, Lights, Latte!, alongside Stacie Davis for Imperfectly Perfect, Kathryn Lupin for Let’s Say We Did and Malak El Souri for The River to My Sea.

Maritsa Baksh is also in the running with Catching the Light, alongside Essie Dennis’ Not a Phase, Laura Leung-How’s When the Other Shoe Drops, Sennen Cork’s Winning Rita, Jess Chinegwu’s Lovers, Friends and Something In-Between and Alison Wall’s Rules for Real Life Romance.

Judge Martha Ashby, editorial director for HarperFiction, said: “I was thrilled that we had over 100 entries for the (Re)Presenting Romance mentoring scheme for underrepresented romance writers. We read some incredible stories from voices that aren’t heard enough within the industry, all united by the common theme of love and romance. From cleverly wielded romance tropes like fake dating or enemies-to-lovers, from historical to contemporary, from south London to New York to Japan, we whittled this down to 10 exciting new voices and we’re looking forward to choosing our winner in October.”

Meena Alexander, features editor at Stylist, added: “I had so much fun getting lost in the inventive, vivid love stories of our entrants, and the sheer volume of talent gives me hope that we’ll be seeing a real romance renaissance before long. Whittling down the list was tough, but the shortlistees all absolutely deserve their place: strong voices, thoughtful writing and a refreshingly diverse cast of characters you just want to root for.”

Callen Martin, agency assistant and partnerships manager at The Good Literary Agency, also commented: “From forbidden affections to fake relationships and dramatic declarations of love, it was wonderful to get lost in the sheer romance of the stories submitted. It was by no means an easy prize to judge, but I’m thrilled by each of our shortlisted entries and their compelling characters, propulsive plots and explorations of love  in all its different facets.”

The ten shortlistees were picked by judges Martha Ashby, Kemi Ogunsanwo, Callen Martin and Meena Alexander. Authors Lindsey Kelk, Sareeta Domingo and Talia Hibbert will be judging the shortlist.