Udogu, Clark and Gales win Imagined Futures Prize and sign deals with Faber

Kenechi Udogu has won Faber’s £15,000 Imagined Futures Prize for her YA science fiction story Augmented, in which the protagonist Akaego fights to prevent being weaponised by a corrupt regime after she discovers that her rare vocal ability to accelerate plant growth can also wipe them out.

Leah Thaxton, publisher, and Natasha Brown, project editor, snapped up rights from John Baker at Bell Lomax Moreton.

Udogu said: “I am extremely grateful to the judges for seeing something special in Augmented and selecting it as the first prize winner for this very much-needed competition for YA environmental science fiction. Much like mine, Akaego’s story is one of perseverance, friendship and hope.” 

Second prize, an £8,000 advance and worldwide publishing contract, was awarded to Kathryn Clark for Things I Learned While I Was Dead, in which a girl wakes up in the future to a world that looks completely unfamiliar. Third prize, a £5,000 advance and worldwide publishing contract, was awarded to Sally Gales for the rich and exciting iNSiDE. This story follows Naya, who has befriended the one species that is out of bounds to humans and is now on the run—but suddenly it looks like the collapsing world may need their help after all. 

Thaxton and Brown acquired the rights for both directly from the authors. 

Thaxton said: “I am over the moon to announce three winners and three publishing deals for Faber’s inaugural Imagined Futures Prize. We launched this prize for science fiction that explores the myriad possibilities for our collective future. We want to publish novels that fire the imagination and carve out new possibilities, to empower young readers to reach for the solutions that will transform our existence. No mean feat—but we were thrilled by the response to our challenge.”

The prize was judged by actor Jamie Bamber, head book buyer at Forbidden Planet Laura Dodd, and Professor of Political Thought and International Relations Duncan Bell. The in-house Faber judges included Thaxton and Brown and international sales manager Viki Cheung.