2024 Fiction Prize shortlist
Matilda Battersby - Forced Perspective - Winner
Matilda Battersby is a freelance editor and journalist. She spent seven years working at The Independent newspaper, where she was arts editor for digital, and was editor of the literary magazine Popshot Quarterly for five years. She has been freelance for nearly nine years, during which time she has written for The Times, i newspaper, Evening Standard, HuffPost UK and others. Matilda also writes and edits content for brands and agencies and teaches journalism at the University of Greenwich. She lives in east London along with her partner and son. Follow Matilda on X @matildbattersby.
Rosa Chalfen - Bellyache
Rosa Chalfen is a writer based in Norwich. Born in London, she studied English Literature and Language at Exeter College, Oxford followed by an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. Her writing covers themes of feminism, friendship and religion, inspired by her Catholic-Jewish upbringing. She works in European heritage and runs creative writing workshops for young people in museums across Norfolk. 'Bellyache' is her first novel. You can find her on Instagram at @rosaiswriting
Amy de la Force - Illusions of Grandeur
Amy de la Force is a bisexual writer of historical, romantasy and other speculative fiction. A degree graduate, she majored in journalism and minored in creative writing, moving to marketing when she was hired by Apple in 2011; she has since worked in copy and design leadership. In 2020, Amy completed Curtis Brown Creative’s selective novel-writing programme, and has longlisted for the BPA Pitch Prize '23, the Voyage YA First Chapters Contest '21, and a (shortlist TBC) competition this year. An Aussie expat, Amy now lives in London with her husband and child. Fun fact: she used to train in Shaolin kung fu and medieval sword fighting. Connect with Amy on X / Twitter or TikTok at @amydelaforce.
Jenny Epstein - This I Have Done For You
Jenny is a full time NHS hospital doctor, a job with story-telling and human observation at its heart, despite its purely scientific training. She grew up mostly in London but has also lived in New York, Winnipeg, Leeds and Nice. Finding medical writing a little too dry, she recently started writing psychological thrillers instead. Entering a creative world so different to medicine has been revitalising. She loves a good game of netball and lives in West London with her husband, two children and one and a half Russian Blue cats. Jenny is on Twitter as @DrJennyEpstein.
Sarah Glover - Missouri
Sarah Glover spends her days (and many of her nights) as a creative director in London’s advertising world. Before she moved to the UK, she worked in NYC. However, she grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, and spent summers and holidays with her sprawling Southern Baptist family in rural Missouri and Arkansas. It’s here, surrounded by a mix of fascinating characters and frustrating humans, she found her inspiration for Missouri.
Laura Ward-Smith - The Happiness Principle
Laura’s career in broadcasting spans nearly two decades, during which she has led marketing campaigns for some of ITV’s and Channel 4’s most iconic shows. Accolades for her work include a BAFTA Craft Award for Digital Creativity. Her degree in Philosophy continues to inspire her fiction, and she is a Faber Academy alumna. Laura recently left London to renovate a possibly-haunted former rectory in the Cotswolds. You can find her on Twitter/X @La_Wardy.