The London Library Emerging Writers Programme Showcase 2026 (In person)
The London Library Emerging Writers Programme began in 2019 to give 40 writers every year the time, space and guidance to develop their multi-form writing projects at The London Library. As the Programme opens applications for its eighth year, this event showcases the exceptional talent of alumni from across the previous cohorts. Children’s author William Yamaguchi Dobson, poet Olive Franklin, non-fiction writer Marina Gerner, YA author, poet and playwright Gayathiri Kamalakanthan, playwright and screenwriter Will Lord and novelist Lisa Smith, will read from their now or soon-to-be published and produced work and discuss their experience of the Programme, in conversation with writer and broadcaster Bidisha.
William Yamaguchi Dobson (EWP23-24) worked as a barrister before turning to writing fiction. Inspired by his childhood in Japan and love of folklore, Kamizen: Fortress of Lost Memories – his debut middle-grade novel – will be published by Scholastic in April and was released first as an Audible Original, ranked Best of 2025.
Olive Franklin (EWP 24-25) is a writer living in London, with work in Poetry, The Poetry Review, Dyke Affair, Banshee and berlin lit. Her debut pamphlet, Dyke Juvenilia, won the Poetry London Pamphlet Prize 2025 and will be published in 2026.
Marina Gerner (EWP 20-21) is an award-winning journalist, global speaker, and adjunct professor at NYU Stern. She is the author of The Vagina Business: The Innovative Breakthroughs that Could Change Everything in Women's Health.
Gayathiri Kamalakanthan (EWP22-23) is a Tamil poet and producer. Their play, Period Parrrty, is a trans Tamil rom-com and premiered at Soho Theatre in October 2025. Their debut novel-in-verse, Bad Queer, is forthcoming with Faber. Gayathiri won the Poetry Archive Now! Wordview Prize 2025, the Disabled Poets Prize 2024 and the Faber & Andlyn Publisher's Prize 2022.
Will Lord (EWP21-22) has been shortlisted for a number of playwriting awards and his first play The Billionaire Inside Your Head debuted at the Hampstead Theatre in Autumn 2025. For the screen, he story-produced Code of Silence (ITV) and is working on upcoming BBC One drama The Rapture. As a script editor, his recent credits include The Flatshare (Paramount+) and The Girl Before (BBC One/HBO Max).
Lisa Smith (EWP20-21) is a British Jamaican author and documentary filmmaker from South London. She has an MA in creative and life writing from Goldsmiths, University of London where she won the Pat Kavanagh Prize in 2019. Her short story Auld Lang Syne won the Guardian 4th Estate 4thWrite Prize in 2017. Her debut novel, Jamaica Road, was published in June 2025.
Bidisha is a broadcaster, presenter and journalist. She covers the arts and culture and current affairs for the BBC, CNN, Channel 5 and Sky News. Her most recent publication is the essay The Future of Serious Art.
The 2026/27 London Library Emerging Writers Programme is open for applications on 6 January, closing on 23 February. Please see our Emerging Writers Programme webpage for details.
Books by the speakers will be available to buy at the event and online from our partner bookshop Hatchards.
This event will take place in person at The London Library. Doors and the bar will open at 6.30pm, the talk will run from 7-8pm and the bar will stay open until 8.30pm. Please see our Event Access Guidelines before you arrive.
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