Emerging Writers Programme: Stories and Success

Since 2019 the Emerging Writers Programme has supported hundreds of writers. Discover what past cohorts have gone on to publish, produce and win.

Group of people from the Emerging Writers Programme gathered in the library

The London Library Emerging Writers Programme has been running since 2019 and has nurtured hundreds of writers to develop work through masterclasses, peer support and the use of the many resources the Library has to offer. Since their time on the Programme, many writers have gone on to be published, have had work produced or won prizes. Here are some of their publications and achievements.

Awards & Recognition

Novels

Krystle Zara Appiah (EWP 2020-21), Rootless (HarperCollins, 2023)

Helen Bain (EWP 2020-21), The Daffodil Days (Bloomsbury, 2026)

Katie Buckley (EWP 2021-22), Hero (Tinder Press, 2025)

Flora Carr (EWP 2020-21), The Tower (Cornerstone, 2024)

Abi Daré (EWP 2019-20), The Girl with the Louding Voice (Sceptre, 2020) & And So I Roar (Sceptre, 2024), winner of the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize

Lianne Dillsworth (EWP 2019-20), Theatre of Marvels (Cornerstone, 2022) and House of Shades (Cornerstone, 2024),

Russell Franklin (EWP 2020-21), The Broken Places (Phoenix, 2023)

Carole Hailey (EWP 2020-21), The Silence Project (Atlantic, 2023) and Scenes from a Tragedy (Atlantic, 2025)

Thomas Peermohamed Lambert (EWP 2022-23), Shibboleth (Europa Editions, 2025)

Sarah Marsh (EWP 2020-21), A Sign of Her Own (Headline, 2024)

Amber Medland (EWP 2019-20), Wild Pets (Faber, 2021)

Xenobe Purvis (EWP 2019-20), The Hounding (Cornerstone, 2025)

Lisa Smith (EWP 2020-21), Jamaica Road (Dialogue, 2025)

Lucy Steeds (EWP 2019-20), The Artist (John Murray, 2025), winner of the Waterstones Book of the Year 2025

Molly Pepper Steemson (EWP 2023-24), Wanting (Viking, 2027)

Eli Zuzovsky (EWP 2022-23), Mazeltov (Footnote, 2025)

Writing for Children and Young Adults

William Yamaguchi Dobson (EWP 2023-24), Kamizen: Fortress of Lost Memories (Scholastic, 2025)

Natasha Hastings (EWP 2019-20), The Miraculous Sweetmakers: The Frost Fair (Harper Collins, 2023), The Miraculous Sweetmakers: The Sea Queen (Harper Collins, 2024), The Miraculous Sweetmakers: The Storm Prince (Harper Collins, 2026), How to Charm a Viscount (Harper Collins, 2027)

Gayathiri Kamalakanthan (EWP 2022-23), Bad Queer (Faber, 2026)

Gita Ralleigh (EWP 2022-23), The Destiny of Minou Moonshine (Bloomsbury, 2024) and The Voyage of Sam Singh (Bloomsbury, 2024)

Short Stories

Erika Banerji (EWP 2019-20), won the 2025 Harpers Bazaar Short Story Competition for Christopher

Annie Hodson (EWP 2022-23), won the 2024 Virago Short Story Competition for Banshee

Monica Kam, (EWP2023-24), won the 2024 Leeds Centre Bai Meigui Award for New Chinese Writing for A Braided Pulse

Mónica Ibarra Parle (EWP 2019-20), won the 2022 Mslexia Short Story Competition for The River Sticks

Pádhraic Quinn (EWP 2025-26), won the 2025 Irish Book Award for Best Short Story for All the Birch Trees Were Waving

Tian Yi (EWP2023-24), won the Guardian/4th Estate 2023 4thWrite Prize for The Good Son

Graphic Novel

Miriam Gold (EWP 2022-23), Elena: A Hand Made Life (Vintage, 2024)

Non-fiction

Gaar Adams (EWP 2020-21), Guest Privileges (Vintage, 2024)

AD Aaba Atach (EWP 2023-24), Breaking Silence: The Daughters of Iran (Canongate, 2027)

Megan Buskey (EWP 2019-20), Ukraine Is Not Dead Yet: A Family Story of Exile and Return (ibidem, 2023), winner of the 2024 Book Prize from the American Association for Ukrainian Studies

Sarah Clegg (EWP 2020-21), Woman's Lore (Bloomsbury, 2023) and The Dead of Winter (Granta, 2024)

Marina Gerner (EWP 2020-21), The Vagina Business (Icon Books, 2024)

Dominique Heyse-Moore (EWP 2021-22), Sarah Lucas: Happy Gas (Tate, 2023), Artists Series: Frank Bowling (Tate, 2025) and Hurvin Anderson (Tate, 2026)

Alexis Keir (EWP 2021-22), Windward Family (Thread Books, 2024)

Rosie Kellett (EWP 2023-24), In for Dinner (Vintage, 2025)

Amber Medland (EWP 2019-20), Attention Seeker (John Murray, 2025)

Carla Montemayor (EWP 2022-23), Islands of Forgotten Daughters (Vintage, 2026)

Grace Quantock (EWP 2021-22), Living Well with Chronic Illness (Orion Spring, 2024)

Harriet Rix (EWP 2021-22), The Genius of Trees (Vintage, 2025), longlisted for the 2026 Women's Non-Fiction Prize

Yvonne Singh (EWP 2022-23), INK! (The History Press, 2025)

Poetry

Isabelle Baafi (EWP 2019-20), Ripe (Oxford Brookes University, 2020) and Chaotic Good (Faber, 2025), winner of the Forward Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection 2025

Natalie Linh Bolderston (EWP 2020-21), The Protection of Ghosts (V, 2019) and Divinations on Survival (Liverpool University Press, 2026)

Helen Bowell (EWP 2020-21), The Barman (Bad Betty Press, 2022)

Zakia Carpenter-Hall (EWP 2020-21), The Same Sound Twice (Poetry Wales, 2023)

Rachael Li Ming Chong (EWP 2023-24), Red Strings Between (Verve, 2025)

Courtney Conrad (EWP 2021-22), I Am Evidence, (Bloodaxe, 2023), winner of the Mslexia poetry pamphlet competition 2022 and the Michael Marks award 2023

Eve Ellis (EWP 2022-23), Spit Valve (Ignition Press, 2024)

Oakley Flanagan (EWP 2021-22), G&T (Out-Spoken Press, 2023)

Timothy Fox (EWP 2023-24), Every House Needs a Ghost (The Braag, 2025)

Olive Franklin (EWP 2024-25), Dyke Juvenilia (Poetry London Editions, 2026)

Yanita Georgieva (EWP 2023-24), Small Undetectable Thefts (Broken Sleep, 2024)

Lisa Kiew (EWP 2019-20), The Unquiet (Offord Road, 2019) and More than Weeds (Nine Arches Press, 2023).

Ellen McAteer (EWP 2023-24), My Deep and Gorgeous Thirst (Verve, 2024)

Gita Ralleigh (EWP 2022-23), A Terrible Things (Bad Betty, 2023)

Anastasia Taylor-Lind (EWP 2021-22), One Language (Smith|Doorstop, 2022)

Natalie Whittaker (EWP 2020-21), The Point is You Are Alive (Broken Sleep, 2024)

Stage

Olga Braga (EWP 2023-24), Donbas (Theatre503, 2026), winner of the 2025 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award

Jess Edwards (EWP 2022-23), Private View (Soho Theatre, 2025), shortlisted for the Women's Prize and the Yale Drama Series Prize

Maryam Garad (EWP 2023-24), Reparations (Riverside Studios, then Soho Theatre, 2024), shortlisted for the Mustapha Matura Award and winner of the Tony Craze Award

Shona Graham (EWP 2024-25), Friendsgiving (Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, 2025), winner of the Bill Cashmore Award.

Simon Jaggers (EWP 2021-22), Gun to Your Head (HighTide and published by Playdead Press)

Gayathiri Kamalakanthan (EWP 2022-23), Period Parrrty (Soho Theatre, 2025, published by Nick Hern Books, 2025)

Will Lord (EWP 2021-22), The Billionaire Inside Your Head (Hampstead Theatre, 2025)

Temi Majekodunmi (EWP 2022-23), Positive (Southwark Playhouse, 2024/25), Special Mention in the George Devine Awards

Sid Sagar (EWP 2021-22), Biting Point (Produced by Middle Child Theatre, 2025; playscript published by Faber, 2025)

Radio

Ayad Andrews (EWP 2020-21), The Fight of the Century – Ali v Frazier (BBCR52021), winner of a Gold ARIA at the 2022 Audio and Radio Industry Awards, four New York Festivals Radio Awards and bronze at 2022 British Podcast Awards

Paolo Chianta (EWP 2021-22), Brighter Later (BBC R3, 2021), Eat and Run (BBC R4, 2023), finalist for Best Original Single Drama, BBC Audio Drama Awards 2024 and Shed (BBC R4, 2025)

Sid Sagar (EWP 2021-22), John From Hemel (BBC R4, 2025)

Abby J Walker (EWP 2024-25), The Counsellor (BBC R4, 2026), winner 2025's Alfred Bradley Bursary Award

Screen

Paolo Chianta (EWP 2021-22), The Role (Short, 2023), Special Jury Mention: London International Animation Festival and Athens International Film + Video Festival.

Daniel Marc Janes (EWP 2020-21), The Crown (Left Bank Pictures for Netflix, 2020-23), staff writer S5 & S6, writer of S6, Ep 6 and The Boys From Brazil (Orchid Pictures/WorldProuctionsfor Netflix), Episodic Writer – S1, Ep 5

Kate Perry (EWP 2020-21), Ruthless (Short, 2021), winner of Best Irish Short Film, The Indie Cork International Film Festival, Best Celtic Short, Carmarthen Bay Film Festival; Best Short Film, The Waterford Film Festival and more

Kumyl Saied (EWP 2023-24), Do Not Resuscitate (Short, 2024) nominated for Best Drama Short at BAFTA Qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival

Megan Smith (EWP 2022-23), Wool Coat (Short, 2024), achieved BIFA Qualifying, winner of the Audience Award at North East International Film Festival and winner of the Independent Spirit Award at Spirit of Independence Film Festival

“EWP (as it’s affectionately called) is a lifechanging programme. Generosity is what underpins the thing that all new writers need – someone who will listen. A chain reaction of people holding out their hand and pulling you upwards... It has been the honour of my life to have begun my beginnings here and for that, I will be forever grateful.”

Katie Buckley

Former Emerging Writer and author of 'Hero' (Hachette UK, 2025)