25 June 2025

Meet the 2025/26 Cohort of the Emerging Writers Programme

The London Library is delighted to announce the newest cohort of its flagship Emerging Writers Programme, which supports early-career writers and is now entering its seventh year. The Programme is made possible thanks to the vital support from Amazon Literary Partnership, Bloomsbury Publishing, The Charlotte Aitken Trust, and Hawthornden Foundation.

40 participants were selected anonymously from a field of over 1950 applicants, a record-breaking number, by a panel of judges including poet Rishi Dastidar (Neptune’s Projects, Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different); children’s author, novelist, scriptwriter and songwriter Maz Evans (Who Let the Gods Out, Vi Spy); novelist and short story writer Irenosen Okojie(Nudibranch, Curandera); non-fiction author, photographer and broadcaster Johny Pitts (Afropean, Home is Not a Place); screenwriter and director Benjamin Ross (The Young Poisoner’s Handbook, Poppy Shakespeare); playwright and performer Chris Thorpe (The Shape of Pain, A Family Business) and C&W literary agents Emma Finn and Lucy Luck.

The emerging writers hail from across the UK, from Scotland to the South Coast, Northern Ireland to Cambridgeshire and they span an age range from early twenties to early fifties. The cohort is working on a diverse array of projects, taking us from Sri Lanka to Zimbabwe, the Philippines to the Caribbean, the borderlands of Poland/Ukraine and England/Scotland and to all the many global iterations of Lands End. They explore ancient Rome, the Silk Road, Victorian erotica, Cold War Germany and the Partition of India. There are projects about literary couples, divorce, eugenics, sonic distortion and sonic fetishism, nostalgia, grief, religion and romance.  

Of the 40 writers, seven are working on non-fiction and memoir, eighteen are writing novels, four of which are for children or young adults, seven are writing for stage/screen - including one comedy musical, four are poets and four are writing short stories.

The London Library’s Emerging Writers Programme is geared towards supporting writers who have not yet published a full-length work of fiction, non-fiction, collection of poems, or had a full-length work professionally produced for stage/screen. The 2025/26 Programme will run from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.

Participants benefit from one year’s free membership of The London Library alongside a programme of writing development and networking opportunities, peer support, and guidance. Membership to The London Library includes: access to its collection of around one million books and periodicals (almost all of which can be borrowed), a vast eLibrary, atmospheric workspaces in a beautiful building, a members’ suite, nationwide postal loans, and discounted tickets to the Library’s popular public events programme. The cohort will be following in the footsteps of the many writers, readers and thinkers who have made the Library their home for over 180 years.

About The Emerging Writers Programme

The Library’s Emerging Writers Programme is open to anyone who is committed to pursuing a career in writing (for publication or performance), wants to develop their work and is working on, or planning, a specific project which will make extensive use of the Library’s resources and is intended for publication or production.

The London Library Emerging Writers Programme is only possible because of the generous support the Library has received from Amazon Literary Partnership, Bloomsbury Publishing, The Charlotte Aitken Trust, Sir Max Hastings, Hawthornden Foundation, The Jerzy Peterkiewicz Educational Foundation, John & Kiendl Gordon, The Paragon Trust, Robert MacLeod, and other anonymous donors.

Two bursary funds are available to support members of the cohort who may face financial, health, or any other barriers that would prevent them fully accessing the Programme. The Emerging Writers Programme Access Bursary has been generously funded by the International Friends of The London Library to help support those participants most in need and the Virago Participation Bursary has been generously funded to support Black women and Black writers from under-represented genders.

Meet the 2025/26 cohort:

Michael Athey is a Northumbrian poet. He holds an MA in Creative Writing from UEA and was awarded Runner Up in the 2024 Young Norwich Creative Awards. His work features in BlackIris Poetry and PulpPoetsPress. Away from writing he works with young people in a charity role.  

@m_athey505 

Jenny Barker is a teacher and writer from Bradford. She recently completed her MA on the Creative Writing pathway of the Children’s Literature programme at Goldsmiths University. Based in London, she is currently working on a YA verse novel exploring grief and identity. 

IG: @jennybwrites  

Settit Beyene is a polyglot from London who works in Fintech. She has worked in schools, summer camps and hostels across Italy, Spain, Portugal and Brazil. She’s working on her second novel. 

Alexandra Boulton is an actor and writer, based in London, with a love for offbeat comedy-drama. Part-Turkish, she moved to England aged 8. She speaks French and learned fluent Mandarin at Cambridge University. With credits across screen, audio, and improv comedy, she spends her spare time playing Dungeons & Dragons. 

IG: @alexandra_boulton | BS: @alexandraboulton.bsky.social 

Jon Buckland lives on the South coast and writes about music for a living. Primarily for The Quietus, Resident Music, and Bandcamp Daily, but you can also find his work at State51, Greedmag, Boulderdash Zine, and in many other publications. He is currently working on a book about distortion. 

IG&BS: @PacificBeliefs  

Sarah Cotton writes fiction which blurs the lines between the psychological and the unreal. In 2024 she received a Spread the Word Early Career Bursary and was longlisted and shortlisted for the Commonwealth and Bridport short story prizes. Her novel follows sisters navigating shifting power balances under patriarchal social systems. 

X: @Sarah_Cotton | BS: @sarah-cotton.bsky.social 

Katharine Crandon is a psychotherapist and doctor. She is a graduate of the Curtis Brown Creative and Faber Academy novel writing courses. Katharine studied philosophy and medicine at Oxford University. She is working on a memoir about madness and murder, and a novel. She lives in Oxfordshire and has six children.  

IG: @katharine_crandon | SS: katharinecrandon.substack.com 

John Dinneen is a British-Irish writer. His plays have been longlisted for the Bruntwood (2025), BOLD (2024) and Alternarratives (2020). He hopes to tell stories that unite audiences in a world that seems increasingly designed and determined to divide us. 

X: JJinneen | IG:kickitanywhere 

Caroline Druitt is a writer and facilitator, running workshops across London in unlikely places. Her poems have been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, Aesthetica Creative Writing Award and commended in the National Poetry Competition. She is working on a poetry collection and a piece of life writing, ‘Harmos’ exploring chronic illness. 

@carolinedruitt  

Sarah Currie Dyer searches for stories where history, nature, and empathy intersect. Raised in America, England has been her home for over a decade where she now lives in Bath. After twelve years teaching middle school, Sarah graduated from Bath Spa University’s Masters in Writing for Young People with distinction. 

IG: @sarahcurriedyer | BS: @sarahcurriedyer.bsky.social  

Anne Elicaño-Shields is a Filipino writer and international development professional. She is the inaugural winner of the Political Short Story Award (Word Factory), a Future Worlds Prize finalist, and has performed at the London Literature Festival (Southbank Centre). She is writing her second novel, a decolonized retelling of a 19th century Filipino epic poem.   

IG: @lavieannerose 

Killian Faith-Kelly writes journalism and short stories. He’s had writing published in GQ, The Fence, The Londoner, New Critique, Press Gazette, The i, the Radio Times, Men’s Health and a few others. He’s originally from County Derry but now lives in London. 

X: @killianDelly |IG: k_faith_k 

Zoey Forbes is a literary lawyer and writer from the Midlands. Her interdisciplinary work explores the legal and ethical implications of artistic creation. She is currently working on a non-fiction book about literary and artistic couples and the invisible labour that make great art possible. She lives in London. 

X: @zoeyforbes | IG: @zoeyforbes 

Shaniqua Harris is a Bajan Brit. She graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, where she was awarded the Kit de Waal Scholarship. Her work is focused on women, plantations, islands, and the Caribbeanness of it all. She is pursuing a PhD and writing her first novel. 

@shaniqua_harris 

Roua Horanieh is a Syrian British writer and overseas qualified architect. She lives in London with her husband and daughter. Roua’s plays, essays, stories and art installations sit at the intersection of architecture and storytelling. Her work often focuses on displacement with a participatory approach and collective creative practice. 

IG: rouahoranieh | X: roua_ho 

Holly Jeffrey is a trainee clinical psychologist and writer of historical fiction. She is currently working on her debut novel set in Ancient Rome. 

Holly Jessop is a London based designer and aspiring writer. She has been recognised in a few competitions including the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writer of Tomorrow (commendation) and Searchlight Award for Best Novel Opening for Children or Young Adults (winner). She draws inspiration from folklore, mystery and historical fiction. 

Nathaniel Jones (he/they) is a screenwriter and playwright from Manchester, currently working in theatre production. Their work includes a solo folk musical about hidden history, Sing, River (Pleasance Courtyard) and a sitcom-style comedy play about a timeless friendship Philos & Amica Do Time (Riverside Studios). 

IG: @nathanielhjones 

Hannah Kennedy is an award-winning writer for stage, screen, audio and immersive media from Buckinghamshire. Hannah is an alum of 4Screenwriting and the Jed Mercurio Mentorship Programme. Their work has been recognised by the RSC’s 37 Plays Project, the Nancy Dean Lesbian Playwriting Award and the BAFTA Rocliffe Competition. 

IG&BS: @hannahkennedy.uk |X: @hckennedy_  |www.hannahkennedy.uk  

Pete Kowalczyk is a writer from the north of England, with Polish and Ukrainian roots, living in Epping Forest. He's written for the Guardian, the European Review of Books, and Tolka among others, and was shortlisted for the 2023 Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize. 

IG: @pete.kowalczyk 

Shayna Kowalczyk is a poet and writer from London. Her work has been published in bath magg, Propel Magazine, berlin lit, the Interpreter’s House and elsewhere. She was a member of the Roundhouse Collective 22/23 and is a current trustee at Apples and Snakes. 

Jonny Lennard is a Newcastle born film editor now living in the South East. He is currently working on a novel about masculinity, language and folklore set in Northumberland. 

Janice Mamukwa is a Zimbabwean writer. She has an MSt in Creative Writing from Oxford and is completing a PGCert in Teaching Creative Writing at Cambridge. Her work explores racial boundaries, the Black female body, mother-daughter relationships and self-image, and the immigrant experience. She is currently working on a novel. 

@JMamukwa 

Kirsty Mann writes comedy. Her first show, Skeletons, started at the Edinburgh Fringe before transferring to Adelaide Fringe (Winner Best Weekly Comedy), Fringe World (Winner Best Overall Comedy), Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Soho Theatre. Her short film, Lady Brently’s End, was a hit on the film festival circuit.  

IG&TT: @kurdymann | YT: @KIRSTYMANN  

Ishita Marwah is a writer, fiction editor, physician, and scientist. Her book-in-progress frames the lifework of Francis Galton, the founder of eugenics, in her own experiences of marginalisation. Ishita is also working on a novel about decolonisation, dating, and diaspora desis. She is chronically ill and neurodivergent. 

X: @IshitaMarwah 

Hadsan Mohamud is a British-Somali actor and writer from NW London. With a degree in Psychology, her work primarily explores themes of mental health, identity and belonging. She recently had a sold-out reading of her play, Keep Moving Forward at Omnibus Theatre and is developing her new play Crush as part of Soho Theatre Writer’s Lab.  

IG: @hadsanmohamud | X: @hadsanmohamud 

Farah Najib is an award-winning playwright whose work frequently explores female rage, community, and bodily experience through a darkly humorous lens. She is an alumna of the Royal Court Writer's Group, Soho Theatre Writer's Lab and the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. Her play Maggots will be staged at the Bush Theatre’s studio space in February 2026. 

IG: farah_najib_ | X: @ohheyfarah 

Victoria Pearce is a writer from South London. She has degrees in Literature and Political Theory from Oxford University and Birkbeck College. A former teacher, she is currently undertaking an AHRC-funded doctorate at Bristol University and writing her first novel, an account of the founding of the first domestic violence refuge in 1970s London.  

Isabella Peralta is a writer, editor, and educator whose work explores identity, mental health, belonging and love. She holds an MSt in Creative Writing (Distinction) from the University of Cambridge and is an alumna of Faber Academy and the HarperCollins Author Academy. Her writing has been listed for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize and the 4thWrite Prize. 

IG: @isabellaperalta 

Pádhraic Quinn is an Irish writer based in London. He recently completed an MA in Creative Writing at The University of Hull. His writing has been published by The Irish Independent, Reflex Press, and can also be found in Catalan with Vallesos. He is currently working on his debut novel. 

BS: @quinnpadhraic.bsky.social 

Hannah Rosefield is a writer and editor from London. She has lived in Boston and Atlanta and has a PhD in Victorian literature from Harvard University. Now an editor at The Dial magazine, she also writes about fiction and social and cultural history. 

‪BS: @hannahrosefield.bsky.social 

Meara Sharma is a writer whose work has appeared in The Believer, Frieze, Vogue, Apartamento, Ambit, and elsewhere. She also edits Elastic, a magazine of psychedelic art, and produces film and radio. A 2025 Hawthornden Fellow, she is working on a nonfiction project about peripheries as well as two novels. 

IG&X: @mearasharma |www.mearasharma.com 

Eve Smith is a writer, artist and recent graduate based in Cambridge. At university, she was Editor in Chief of Trinity Film Review and shortlisted for the Irish Student Media Awards. She is working on her debut novel, set on the Antrim coast, about adjusting to physical difference, hope and what it means to be acutely aware of the inherent precarity of life.  

@e.veschmeve 

Aparna Surendra is a Sri Lankan writer based in London. Her fiction has been shortlisted for the White Review Short Story prize and Wasafiri New Writing Prize. She is a 2025 Tin House resident and previous recipient of the London Writers Award. Aparna writes fiction alongside a career in digital rights. 

X: aparna_s1 

Rebecca Veii is a Creative Director and writer based near Cambridge. Her debut novel explores the darker impulses behind musical genius, colliding classical tradition with underground audio culture and sonic fetishism. Longlisted for the Bridport First Novel Prize, she is a graduate of Curtis Brown Creative’s flagship novel-writing course. 

Teddy Webb is a poet, essayist and graphic designer. Her work, which focuses on themes of lesbian culture and reclaiming connection to the natural world under capitalism, has been published in The Seaford Review, Writer’s Hour Magazine and Butch-Femme Press. She is working on her first pamphlet. She lives in Brighton with her girlfriend and their cat Goose.  

IG: @soundssofwords  

George Wigzell is a writer and actor from Leeds. His training includes Arvon’s Writing for Young Adults and Faber Academy’s Writing a Novel courses. His acting credits include Bridgerton and The Witcher and extensive stage work for young audiences. He likes baking bread, playing boardgames and obsessing over Leeds United.

IG: @georgewigzell  

Sabrina Wolfe is a writer living in Southeast London. They have had short stories placed in a number of competitions, including the Edinburgh Short Story Awards and Harper’s Bazaar story competition. They are working on a short story collection and writing a novel about queer desire, nostalgia and second chances. 

@wolvesinlondon 

Kate Wyver is a freelance theatre critic and features writer published in The Guardian, The Stage, The Independent and Financial Times. She reads and writes queer stories. 

@katewyver 

Tahira Yaqoob is a journalist from London and a recent graduate of the MA Creative Writing at UEA, where she was the recipient of the Kowitz Scholarship and joint winner of the Curtis Brown Award. She was a 2024/5 Curtis Brown Breakthrough writer. Tahira is working on a fiction novel and writes about race, identity, migration and dislocation.