Lucy Cavendish College has named the 2019 winner of its prestigious Fiction Prize as Sarah Brooks.
Lucy Cavendish College has named the 2019 winner of its prestigious Fiction Prize as Sarah Brooks, with her novel The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands.
This was the biggest year yet for the Prize, which received a total of over 600 entries. Seven were shortlisted by a judging panel chaired by journalist and author Allison Pearson. Also judging were Jackie Ashley, political journalist, broadcaster and Honorary Fellow of the College (after leaving the College as its eight President). Also new to the panel was Katy Loftus (Editorial Director at Viking). Returning to the panel was literary agent Nelle Andrew from sponsor PFD, editor and ghost-writer Gillian Stern, Emeritus Fellow Lindsey Traub and poet, crime writer and Honorary Fellow, Sophie Hannah.
Sarah Brooks completed her PhD on seventeenth century Chinese ghost stories, and now works in East Asian Studies at the University of Leeds. She attended the Clarion West Writers' Workshop in 2012, and has had stories published in magazines including Interzone, Strange Horizons, and Strix. She won the 2017 Bare Fiction Short Story Prize, and the Walter Swan Short Story Prize 2017-18. She's grateful for the exciting and supportive literary scene in Leeds, and is a member of the Leeds Writers' Circle and the Northern Short Story Festival Academy. She is co-editor of Samovar, a bilingual online magazine of translated speculative fiction.
Chair of the judging panel, Allison Pearson commented on this year’s winner:
"2019 has been another phenomenal year for the Lucy Cavendish Prize with a record number of entries from every genre. It is now the premier prize in the UK for unpublished women’s fiction. Agents and publishers pounce on the long list, which is a huge testament to the quality of the talent that the Prize uncovers. We had seven fabulous authors on this year’s shortlist. Nearly all of them have already secured representation as a result of the fruitful partnership between Lucy Cavendish College and the literary agency, Peters Fraser Dunlop,
This year’s winner, 'The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands' is a remarkable and magical book which blew away the judges with its maturity and originality. We feel confident that Sarah Brooks is another literary star in the making."
College President, Dame Madeleine Atkins said,
“Many congratulations to Sarah for this outstanding success. We are delighted to help new authors on their journey to publication, and can’t wait to see copies of her novel in bookshops and the Lucy Cavendish Library in the future!”
Now in its ninth year, the Fiction Prize has developed a formidable reputation for uncovering new talent and draws significant interest from the publishing industry. It has been a catalyst for numerous literary careers.
Over the past eight years, the Fiction Prize has developed a formidable reputation for uncovering new talent and draws significant interest from the publishing industry. It has been a catalyst for numerous literary careers. Recently, Gail Honeyman (2014 Shortlist) has topped the fiction charts with her novel Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine (published 2017) with accolades including the British Book Awards ‘Book of the Year 2018’, Waterstones Fiction ‘Book of the Month’ for February 2018 and the 2017 Costa Book Awards ‘First Novel’ Award. Catherine Chanter (2013 Winner) published The Well in 2015, selected as a favourite by The Richard and Judy Book Club, and more recently The Half Sister. Sara Collins (2016 Shortlist) will launched her debut The Confessions of Frannie Langton this month to immediate acclaim. Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott released Swan Song last year and it was chosen as a Times ‘Book of the Year’ and has just been longlisted for the Womens’ Prize. Laura Marshall (2016 Shortlist) reached the Sunday Times Top 10 list with her first novel Friend Request. Laura has also released Three Little Lies, which was listed by iBooks as a ‘Book of the Month’. Since being shortlisted in 2017, Lesley Sanderson has published The Orchid Girls and The Woman at 46 Heath Street. Claire Askew (2016 Winner) has recently published All The Hidden Truths, which was chosen as ‘Book of the Month’ in September 2018 by The Times. Frances Maynard (2016 Shortlist) has published The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr and Maggsie McNaughton's Second Chance. Emily Midorikawa (2015 Winner) and Emma Claire Sweeney published A Secret Sisterhood to wide acclaim.
About Lucy Cavendish
Lucy Cavendish is currently a women's college for students aged 21 or over, and will accept men and women from standard University age from 2021 onwards. Its undergraduate and postgraduate students come from over sixty countries, and a wide variety of educational and professional backgrounds. Many have changed careers or overcome significant challenges in order to reach University. The College is particularly strong in Medicine, Law, Engineering, Veterinary Medicine, Psychology, the Social Sciences and English.
Contact information:
Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge – comms@lucy.cam.ac.uk