Less than a year after taking his first step into publishing with the launch of #Merky Books, the grime artist Stormzy has unveiled the New writers’ prize for authors under 30, to “promote the stories that aren’t being heard, and to find the best writer of a new generation”.
#Merky Books, a Penguin Random House imprint focused on fostering talent among young UK writers, is part of the musician’s growing #Merky empire, which also includes a record label and music festival. Its first book was Stormzy’s memoir, Rise Up, co-authored with the 25-year-old writer Jude Yawson.
“I know too many talented writers that don’t always have an outlet or a means to get their work seen, and hopefully #Merky Books can now be a reference point for them to say ‘I can be an author’, and for that to be a realistic and achievable goal,” Stormzy said. “Reading and writing as a kid was integral to where I am today and I, from the bottom of my heart, cannot wait to hear your stories and get them out into the big wide world.”
The new prize will be run in collaboration with the Good Literary Agency, co-founded by The Good Immigrant editor Nikesh Shukla and agent Julia Kingsford, and charity First Story.
Entries are now invited from unpublished writers of fiction, non-fiction and poetry aged between 16 and 30, who don’t already have an agent. The closing date is 12 April. The prize will be representation from the Good Literary Agency and a publishing contract with #Merky Books.
The winner, announced on 6 June, will be selected by a panel including Stormzy, Shukla, the author Yrsa Daley-Ward, the poet Kayo Chingonyi and Penguin Random House UK’s Susan Sandon.
