Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize Announces 2025 Shortlist
We are delighted to reveal the talented authors on this year’s shortlist.
Lucy Cavendish College is delighted to announce the highly anticipated shortlist for its annual Fiction Prize. This year's prize attracted a wealth of talented writers, presenting the judges with the difficult challenge of selecting seven exceptional entries.
2025 Fiction Prize Shortlist:
Ciara Broderick with Catfish
Emily Charlton with Motherskin
AJ Davage with Between us three and the sea
Melissa Gitari with My Girls
Ceri Gould with On Wednesdays We Wear Black
Clair Humphries with Mrs Peacock's Pavlova
Rachel Rowlinson with Seastroke
You can find out more about the talented authors on the shortlist here.
The Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize is a celebrated award for debut women and non-binary authors over the age of 18 who have not yet had a novel accepted for publication. It has a strong track record of unearthing new literary talent and launching writing careers.
The difficult task of selecting this shortlist fell to this year's distinguished judging panel:
Kiran Millwood Hargrave (Head Judge): Award-winning poet, playwright, and bestselling novelist.
Candice Brathwaite: Acclaimed author, journalist, broadcaster, and cultural commentator.
Leodora Darlington: Publishing Director at Orion and debut author.
Dr Olivia Krauze: Director of Studies in English at Lucy Cavendish College.
Dr Lindsay Traub: Former Vice President and Emeritus Fellow of the College.
Their combined expertise has resulted in a shortlist that showcases diverse voices and compelling narratives. We are incredibly grateful for their dedicated work in this process.
Kiran says, “Our shortlist is the result of strong opinions, passionate debate, and fulsome questions about what we love to read and why we love to read it. The shortlisted entries represent an exciting range of idiosyncratic voices, intriguing plotting, vivid setting, and often all three.”
The winner of the Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize will be awarded a prize of £1,500 and will be announced at a special ceremony on Thursday, 15 May.
In addition to the monetary prize for the winner, all shortlisted entrants will receive an invaluable one-to-one consultation with an agent from our generous sponsor, WME. This provides a unique opportunity for each author to receive tailored editorial feedback and expert publishing advice.
Lucy Cavendish College extends its warmest congratulations to all the shortlisted authors.
To find out more about the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize click here.