Winn’s In Memoriam wins Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2023 

Alice Winn has been awarded the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2023 for her “comfortingly classic but daringly original” novel In Memoriam (Viking).

Awarded at an evening ceremony at the Waterstones flagship bookshop in Piccadilly, London, on 23rd August, Winn takes home a £5,000 prize and Waterstones’ “promise of ongoing commitment to the winner’s writing career".

Hailed for being  “luminous and heart-breaking”, In Memoriam traces the love story between two First World War soldiers, “whilst meditating on the tragedies of war and the precious sanctuary that can be found in deep human connection”.

Receiving the award, Winn said: "This has really taken me by surprise. This is wonderful, thank you so much. Congratulations to all of the nominees, I feel like we’ve honestly all won just by virtue of having been nominated for this."

Winn won out against a shortlist also comprising Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Harvill Secker); Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks (Jonathan Cape); Close to Home by Michael Magee (Hamish Hamilton); Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin (Fourth Estate) and Kala by Colin Walsh (Atlantic Books).

Bea Carvalho, head of books and campaigns at Waterstones, said: “We are delighted to name Alice Winn as the winner for the 2023 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, as voted for by Waterstones booksellers. We were all blown away by Alice’s powerful and emotive storytelling, and intimate command of her epic historical canvas: it is a truly stunning feat of fiction which manages to be at once desperately heart-shattering and full of hope, and comfortingly classic yet daringly original. The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize aims to celebrate the future of fiction: it is in safe hands with new novelists like Alice Winn.”

Winn said: “In Memoriam was the book I wrote almost by accident, after I had decided to stop wasting my time writing unpublishable novels. This is a wholly joyful and unexpected result. It was inspired by the student newspapers from my old school during the First World War, and I wanted it to be a quick and hopeful read despite the bleak subject matter.”

She told The Bookseller she was particularly struck by "teenage boys writing the obituaries for their slightly older brothers and friends" in the newspaper. "Its so unprocessed and so visceral" she said. 

After sharing her struggles getting a novel published, she said: "If someone is reading this and working on their own unpublishable novels all I can say is courage and keep at it." Winn said she is now working on a novel about minor knights of the round table.

Last year, on winning the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty (Oneworld) saw a sales increase of over 800% according to Waterstones, and went on to win both the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction and the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize. The Rabbit Hutch has since also been optioned for screen.