A 27-year-old writer living in south east London has been shortlisted to win the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Trust Young Writer award.
The Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Trust Young Writer of the Year awards have today (January 23) announced a shortlist of talented writers for 2021 – marking the 30th anniversary of the awards.
The award recognises the best literary work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by writers of 35 and under.
Caleb Azumah Nelson, writer and photographer from south east London is in the running to win the award, thanks to his novel, Open Water.
Caleb has already achieved recognition such as winning the Costa First Novel Awards in 2021 and is one of the five young authors in the running to win the award.
Other nominees include Irish novelist Megan Nolan, US-based writer Anna Beecher, Cal Flyn - an author, and journalist from the Highlands of Scotland and Londoner Rachel Long for her poetry collection.
The winner of the award will receive £10,000 cash money, as well as a 10-week residence by the University of Warwick - they will also a two year membership to the London Library.
All shortlist authors will receive £1,000 and be championed by the British Council.
Sarah Moss, 2021 judge, said: “From a strong longlist, we chose the five books that showed the most inventive and promising writing.
“I’m confident that these are not only new books and new stories but new voices that will become part of our shared cultural life in the coming years.
“The rising generation inherits a shameful mess, but the breadth of genres and themes here attests to the artistic and intellectual energy of new writers.”
Caleb’s novel, Open Water, tells a story of two black British people living in south east London who won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong.
As both characters try to make a mark in the city, they find themselves progressively falling in love to soon be torn apart.
The romance novel follows a journey of love, fear, violence and offers a potent insight of race and vulnerability.
Recent champions of the awards include, Zadie Smith, Sarah Waters, Robert Macfarlane, and last year’s winner, Jay Bernard.
This year’s judges include– Sarah Moss, Andrew O’Hagan, Tahmima Anam, Claire Lowdon, Gonzalo C. Garcia and will be chaired by Sunday Times Literary Editor Andrew Holgate.
Gonzalo C. Garcia said: “The authors in our shortlist offer a consistent focus on humanising stories with unquestionable skill and originality.
“We find tales of love and heartbreak, trauma and healing, set up against a sharp questioning of broader power dynamics – as well as the subversion of our perceptions of nature and the natural.
“These authors have given me much hope in these extraordinary times, finding beauty in our relationships to one another while speaking out about our collective pain, masterfully denouncing the political and moral shortcomings which continue to haunt us.”
Over the coming week, Granta will publish extracts from all five titles on granta.com.
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