Oxford/42 New Writing Prize: Shortlisted Writers Announced
42 and The Faculty of English at the University of Oxford are delighted to announce shortlisted writers for their multi-disciplinary storytelling competition:
- Edelle Dwyer - Ascension
- Keelan Gallagher – Billy Balaclava
- Ed Hancox – Outraged
- Steve Mellen – Ask The Ghosts
- Abir Mohammad – Bhaijaan
- Megan Shandley – Roar, Bellona
Congratulations to all those selected. The judges will be convening next month to select a winner.
The winning writer will be announced on Monday, 16th June at an award ceremony to be held in Oxford.
More about the prize:
The Oxford/42 New Writing Prize launched last Autumn. Aspiring novelists, playwrights and screenwriters were asked to submit a piece of work by 30 April 2025. The prize was open to anyone aged 18 or over living, working or studying in the UK at the closing date for submissions. We have had a fantastic response to the prize with over 3500 entries. The winner will receive £1500 along with professional representation by 42.
Abby Ajayi is the creator, writer, and executive producer of her original six-part series Riches, available on Amazon Prime in the US and ITVX in the UK. Her TV credits include the Emmy-nominated Inventing Anna (Netflix/Shondaland), How to Get Away with Murder (ABC/Shondaland) and The First Lady (Showtime). A London native, Abby holds a law degree from Oxford University and was a Fulbright Scholar at the New York Film Academy.
Photo © Chelsea Lauren
Chris Chibnall is a BAFTA, Royal Television Society, Broadcasting Press Guild and Peabody award-winning screenwriter, executive producer, and playwright whose work has been seen, translated and remade all around the world. He is the recipient of the prestigious FIPA Prix D’Honneur, and honorary doctorates from Edge Hill University and Sheffield Hallam University. His television work includes Broadchurch – remade as Gracepoint in the US and Malaterra in France – The Great Train Robbery, Doctor Who, Torchwood and Life on Mars. His theatre work includes One Last Push, Worst Wedding Ever!, Kiss Me Like You Mean It and Gaffer! His first novel, DEATH AT THE WHITE HEART, will be published by Michael Joseph in the UK and by Pamela Dorman Books in the US in January 2025.
Photo by Ash Mills.
Rona Munro has written extensively for stage, radio, film and television. Most notable recent credits include ‘The James Plays’ a cycle of multi award winning contemporary plays about the history of Scotland, originally produced by the National Theatre of Scotland, The National Theatre UK and Edinburgh International festival and subsequently by Raw Material in association with Capital Theatres. Her television credits include the BAFTA-nominated ‘Bumping the Odds’ and ‘Rehab,’ and her films include Silver Bear winner ‘Ladybird Ladybird’ directed by Ken Loach and ‘Oranges and Sunshine.’ Directed by Jim Loach. Rona is the only writer so far to have contributed episodes to both the ‘classic’ and contemporary series of ‘Dr Who.’
Photo by Lesley Martin.
Robert Douglas-Fairhurst is a Professor of English Literature and a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. His books include Becoming Dickens (2011), which was awarded the Duff Cooper Prize, The Story of Alice (2015), which was shortlisted for the Costa Prize, The Turning Point (2021) and Metamorphosis: A Life in Pieces (2023). He writes regularly for publications including the Times, Spectator, and Literary Review, while radio and television appearances include Start the Week, In Our Time, The Today Programme, BBC Breakfast, and The Culture Show. He has acted as the historical consultant on BBC productions of Jane Eyre, Emma, Great Expectations and Dickensian, and both of the Enola Holmes films for Netflix. He has judged the Man Booker Prize and the Baillie Gifford Prize, and in 2015 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
