The International contemporary writing magazine Wasafiri is currently accepting submissions for the 2022 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize. Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah is a long time supporter of Wasafiri Magazine, in addition to serving on its advisory board.

The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize is supported by Queen Mary University of London. The prize, which was founded in 2009, seeks to support new, early-career writers, across the categories of fiction, life writing and poetry. It is open to all writers who haven’t yet published a book-length work regardless of age, gender, nationality, or background.

Winners in each category a cash award of £1,000 and publication in the print magazine. Shortlisted writers will have their work published on Wasafiri’s website. All fifteen shortlistees and winners will also be offered the Chapter and Verse or Free Reads mentoring opportunity in partnership with The Literary Consultancy (dependent on eligibility), as well as a conversation with Nikesh Shukla of The Good Literary Agency to discuss their career progression.

The judging panel for the 2022 prize is chaired by  Marina Salandy-Brown and include Mary Jean Chan (Poetry), Preti Taneja (Fiction), and Francesca Wade (Life Writing).

Each submission comes with an application fee of £10. However, there’s a subsidized option for low-income earners which can be accessed here.

Deadline: 30th June 2022.

Eligibility 

  • The competition is open to anyone who has not published a book-length work of fiction, life writing, or poetry, except for self-published works or poetry chapbooks
  • Entries must not have been previously published in any form (excluding live performances or shares on personal blogs or social media channels).
  • If entries are published, or accepted for publication, elsewhere between submission and shortlisting, they will no longer be eligible. You must inform us immediately if work submitted to the prize is then accepted for publication elsewhere by emailing: [email protected]

Format of entries 

  • No entry may exceed 3,000 words.
  • All prizes are for short works, not for novel/memoir extracts. While extracts from longer works are eligible, they must stand alone as complete works in their own right.
  • A single poetry entry can include up to three poems, which together total no more than 3,000 words. Each poem must each be submitted as a separate document.

Read the full eligibility criteria and rules of submissions here.

Address enquiries to [email protected].