Previous Cohorts & Anthologies
Emerging Writers Programme 2025/26 Cohort
The 40 writers on the sixth London Library Emerging Writers Programme cohort were: Michael Athey, Jenny Barker, Settit Beyene, Alexandra Boulton, Jon Buckland, Sarah Cotton, Katharine Crandon, John Dineen, Caroline Druitt, Sarah Currie Dyer, Anne Elicaño-Shields, Killian Faith-Kelly, Zoey Forbes, Shaniqua Harris, Roua Horanieh, Holly Jeffrey, Nathaniel Jones, Hannah Kennedy, Pete Kowalczyk, Shayna Kowalczyk, Jonny Lennard, Janice Mamukwa. Kirsty Mann, Ishita Marwah, Holly May, Hadsan Mohamud, Farah Najib, Victoria Pearce, Isabella Peralta, Pádhraic Quinn, Hannah Rosefield, Meara Sharma, Eve Smith, Aparna Surenda, Rebecca Veii, Teddy Webb, George Wigzell, Sabrina Wolfe, Kate Wyver and Tahira Yaqoob.
The cohort were selected anonymously from a field of over 1950 applicants by a panel of judges including poet Rishi Dastidar; children’s author, novelist, scriptwriter and songwriter Maz Evans; novelist and short story writer Irenosen Okojie; non-fiction author, photographer and broadcaster Johny Pitts; screenwriter and director Benjamin Ross; playwright and performer Chris and C&W literary agents Emma Finn and Lucy Luck. Throughout the year, they worked on projects spanning fiction, non-fiction, writing for children and young adults, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting and a comedy musical.
Their anthology, From the Silence of the Stacks, New Voices Rise Vol.VII, will be available as an eBook and to buy in print from our online shop in November 2026.
Emerging Writers Programme 2024/25 Cohort
The 40 writers on the sixth London Library Emerging Writers Programme cohort were: Michael Athey, Jenny Barker, Settit Beyene, Alexandra Boulton, Jon Buckland, Sarah Cotton, Katharine Crandon, John Dineen, Caroline Druitt, Sarah Currie Dyer, Anne Elicaño-Shields, Killian Faith-Kelly, Zoey Forbes, Shaniqua Harris, Roua Horanieh, Holly Jeffrey, Nathaniel Jones, Hannah Kennedy, Pete Kowalczyk, Shayna Kowalczyk, Jonny Lennard, Janice Mamukwa. Kirsty Mann, Ishita Marwah, Holly May, Hadsan Mohamud, Farah Najib, Victoria Pearce, Isabella Peralta, Pádhraic Quinn, Hannah Rosefield, Meara Sharma, Eve Smith, Aparna Surenda, Rebecca Veii, Teddy Webb, George Wigzell, Sabrina Wolfe, Kate Wyver and Tahira Yaqoob.
The cohort were selected anonymously from a field of over 1950 applicants by a panel of judges including poet Rishi Dastidar; children’s author, novelist, scriptwriter and songwriter Maz Evans; novelist and short story writer Irenosen Okojie; non-fiction author, photographer and broadcaster Johny Pitts; screenwriter and director Benjamin Ross; playwright and performer Chris and C&W literary agents Emma Finn and Lucy Luck. Throughout the year, they worked on projects spanning fiction, non-fiction, writing for children and young adults, poetry, screenwriting, playwriting and a comedy musical.
Their anthology, From the Silence of the Stacks, New Voices Rise Vol.VII, will be available as an eBook and to buy in print from our online shop in November 2026.
Emerging Writers Programme 2023/24 Cohort
The 40 writers on the fifth London Library Emerging Writers Programme were: AD Aaba Atach, Sara Aghlani, Dr Noga Applebaum, Carole Aubrée-Dumont, Jess Barnfield, Olga Braga, Rachael Li Ming Chong, Louise Conniss, James Cornwell, Nicole Davis, Yiota Demetriou, William Yamaguchi Dobson, Timothy Fox, Chris Fite-Wassilak, Maryam Garad, Yanita Georgieva, Mark Henstock, Marissa Mireles Hinds, Margaret Morrison, Georgia Myers, Esmé Hicks, Preeti Jha, Monica Kam, Rosie Kellett, David Lowe, Lia Martin, Ellen McAteer, Avril Millar, Helena Pickup, EJ Robinson, Lydia Sabatini, Kumyl Saied, Molly Pepper Steemson, Madeline Heather Stephens, Stacey Taylor, Helena Tebeau, Catherine Wilson, Tian Yi.
The candidates were selected from a field of almost 1,400 applicants by a panel of judges comprising poet and playwright Caroline Bird, screenwriter and playwright Moira Buffini, non-fiction writer Travis Elborough, novelist and short story writer Zoe Gilbert, novelist Ayisha Malik, and literary agents at Aitken Alexander. Throughout the year, the group worked on projects spanning memoir, food writing, fiction, non-fiction, playwriting, screenwriting and translation.
Their anthology, From the Silence of the Stacks, New Voices Rise Vol.V, is available as an ebook and to buy in print from our online shop.
Emerging Writers Programme 2022/23 Cohort
The 40 writers on the fourth London Library Emerging Writers Programme were: Jasmin Allenspach, Ettie Bailey-King, Melanie Banim, Katie Byford, Anna Carling, Melanie Carvalho, Patrick Cash, Fatima Cham, Yasmine Dankwah, Bryn Davies, Jessica Edwards, Eve Ellis, Pacifica Goddard, Miriam Gold, Soria Hamidi, Annie Hodson, Zia Holloway, Gayathiri Kamalakanthan, Inigo Laguda, Nicole Lee, Fatima Luz Naeema, Temi Majekodunmi, Harriet Matthews, Carla Montemayor, Sharanya Murali, Leeor Ohayon, JP Pangilinan O’Brien, Thomas Peermohamed Lambert, Dr. Michael Pourfar, Gita Ralleigh, Electra Rhodes, Melissa Richards, Kimberley Sheehan, Yvonne Singh, Megan Smith, B R Rose, Jack Stanley, Sarah Stribley, Grahame Williams, Eli Zuzovsky.
The cohort was chosen from a field of almost 950 applicants by a panel of judges comprising YA novelist and essayist Yassmin Abdel-Magied (Chair), non-fiction writer Simon Garfield, playwright and novelist Nell Leyshon, poet Rachel Long, screen and children's writer John McNally and literary agent Eli Keren. Throughout the year, the group worked on a broad range of projects across poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, non-fiction, adult fiction, YA and children’s fiction and graphic memoir.
Their anthology, From the Silence of the Stacks, New Voices Rise Vol. IV, is available as an eBook and to buy in print from our online shop.
Emerging Writers Programme 2021/22 Cohort
The 40 writers on the third London Library Emerging Writers Programme were: Beth Alliband, Leonie Annor-Owiredu, Phoebe Yemi Ara, Paul Atherton, Ella Baron, Isabella Bengoechea, Katie Buckley, Paolo Chianta, Tilda Coleman, Tom Conaghan, Courtney Conrad, Viktoria Dahill, Annie Fan, Hana Fazal, Oakley Flanagan, Edward Fortes, Eleanor Franzén, Gilli Fryzer, Ella Godfrey, Stewart Gott, Dominique Heyse-Moore, Kate Holderness, Niamh Adrianna Hunt, Simon Jaggers, Alexis Keir, Sasha Kim, Will Lord, Gerline Ndombasi, Vanessa Phan, Charles Edward Pipe, Grace Quantock, Harriet Rix, Sid Sagar, Daisy Syme-Taylor, Anastasia Taylor-Lind, Jessie Thompson, Liz Tresidder, Esohe Uwadiae, Kathleen Walker-Meikle, David Willey.
The cohort were chosen from a field of almost 1000 applicants by a panel of judges comprising travel writer and London Library Trustee Sara Wheeler (Chair); YA and adult fiction writer Sareeta Domingo; screenwriter Karim Flint; poet Will Harris; playwright and screenwriter Alexis Zegerman; novelist, memoirist and writing mentor Tim Lott; the team at Virago; and agents from AM Heath. Throughout the year, the group worked on a broad range of projects across poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, non-fiction, fiction and graphic novel.
Their anthology, From the Silence of the Stacks, New Voices Rise Vol. III, is available as an eBook and to buy in print from our online shop.
Emerging Writers Programme 2019/20 Cohort
The 38 writers on the inaugural London Library Emerging Writers Programme were: Bebe Ashley, Isabelle Baafi, Alex-David Baldi, Erika Banerji, Carmina Bernhardt, Helen Bowell, Finnian Brewer, Megan Buskey, Sian Chaney-Price, Hattie Clarke, Abass Collier, Swithun Cooper, Natasha Cutler, Abi Daré, L M Dillsworth, Joanna Dobson, Karim Flint, Emily Ruth Ford, Anita Goveas, Alice Hughes, Anna Kahn, L Kiew, Lou Kramskoy, Madi Maxwell-Libby, P T McCarthy, Amber Medland, Carly Minsky, Qudsia Mirza, Mónica Parle, Xenobe Purvis, Mandy Rabin, Sabrina Richmond, Laura Sanchez, Natasha Stallard, Lucy Steeds, Deborah Torr, Mia Vigar and Jeremy Wikeley
The cohort was chosen from a field of over 600 applicants by a panel of judges comprising novelist and screenwriter Daisy Goodwin (Chair); poet Raymond Antrobus; Associate Director, Awards at the Royal Society of Literature Paula Johnson; novelist and screenwriter Nikita Lalwani; and agents from AM Heath. Throughout their year, the group worked on projects across poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, adult fiction, children's and YA fiction and non-fiction.
Their anthology, From the Silence of the Stacks, New Voices Rise Vol. I, is available as an eBook and to buy in print from our online shop.