We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Aspire-igen 1st Prize at the 2018 SI Leeds Literary Prize is Shereen Tadros for Say Goodbye To Her. The judging panel was unanimous in its praise of the manuscript, set in Alexandria in the 1950s, and the depiction of the life of its central protagonist, Dalia. Chair of the judges, Professor Susheila Nasta MBE, said: “This year’s entries offered up a feast of new writing, exciting new fictions by up and coming voices, transporting the reader across diverse worlds and into the lives of British communities.”
2018 shortlist (L-R): Kavita Bhanot, Yvonne Singh, Yoanna Pak, Mona Dash, Omega Douglas and Shereen Tadros – photo: Max Farrar
Second prize was awarded to Yvonne Singh for One Man’s Revolution and third prize was awarded to Kavita Bhanot for Baba ji on Boulton Road. A panel of 22 Soroptimist International members chose the winner of the 2018 SI Readers’ Choice award, which was presented to Omega Douglas for Hibiscus, Rose, Jacaranda. Shortlisted writers Mona Dash and Yoanna Pak gave captivating readings from their entries and the whole cohort received a package of fantastic prizes and opportunities through the Prize Plus programme, ranging from a place at Arvon’s residential writing course, manuscript through The Literary Consultancy, 1:1 writer development through Peepal Tree Press’s Inscribe programme and attendance at New Writing North’s summer salon event for agents and publishers.
Huge congratulations to all our shortlisted writers – find out more about them here and read extracts of their work. There are two more events featuring the shortlist in London this month – see more details here.
