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Independent publisher Can of Worms has partnered with New York–based publisher Leapfrog Press for it's Global Fiction Prize.
The annual prize was founded by Leapfrog publisher Lisa Graziano in 2009, for unpublished short and long-form adult, YA and middle-grade fiction. The winner will receive a publishing contract and advance.
Going forward, Can of Worms will publish the winner in the UK, with Leapfrog Press continuing to publish the winner in the US. The partnership will begin with the publication of the 2019 prize-winner, Lara Tupper, whose story collection Amphibians will be published simultaneously in the US and UK in March 2021.
The two publishers will also work together to draw up a longlist for the 2020 prize, which will be announced in July 2020 with the winner to be announced "soon after".
Can of Worms publisher, Tobias Steed, said: "I came across Leapfrog first on account of the diversity of voices on their publishing programme, only to discover a formidable list of finalists in the annual fiction prize, such as Helen Phillips, whose first book, And Yet They Were Happy, was published by Leapfrog in 2011.
"We are looking forward to participating in the judging. All submissions are anonymised and closed in June. To assist Lisa in compiling this year’s short list, we have recruited Akua Rugg, formerly the arts editor of Race Today and a founding member of the Alliance of the Race Today Collective.”
Graziano commented: “The pairing with Can of Worms will give our award winners greater global reach and we are thrilled for our 2019 prize-winner, Lara Tupper."
Previous winners for the prize include Brighton-based author Katayoun Medhat, for The Quality of Mercy (Leapfrog, 2017), and Pamela Laskin for Why No Goodbye? (Leapfrog Press, 2019).