Following a very successful first year, the Nero New Writers Prize in association with Brunel University of London returns, with submissions opening today to find a new winner.
Launched in 2025 to celebrate the very best unpublished writers in the UK and Ireland, the Nero New Writers Prize aims to discover the writing stars of the future and support their development. Entrants are asked to submit a previously unpublished short story (a piece of fiction or narrative non-fiction) of max 5,000 words. It can be written for children or for adult audiences and should be a self-contained piece of work. The winner of the Nero New Writers Prize will receive a cash prize of £3,000, alongside a scholarship to study for an MA in Creative Writing at Brunel, and an introductory meeting with a literary agent, facilitated by the university.
Alongside the New Writers Prize will be a new award dedicated solely to students who are currently studying at or have graduated from Brunel in the last two years. The winner of the Brunel Prize will also receive a scholarship for an MA in Creative Writing at Brunel, plus a cash prize of £1,000.
Both prizes will be judged by bestselling author and Nero Gold Prize winner Paul Murray. He is joined on the Nero New Writing Prize panel by Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize-winning author and Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel, and Helen Cullen, Reader in Creative Writing at Brunel. He will separately choose an overall winner for the Brunel Prize from a selection of entries.
Five writers shortlisted for the Nero New Writers Prize will be announced on 22nd October 2026, alongside the winner of the Brunel Prize. The winners of both prizes will be celebrated at a ceremony at Brunel on 18th November 2026.
Submissions for the Nero New Writers Prize and the Brunel Prize are now open and will close on Friday 11th September. A single entry form will be used for both awards, with Brunel students asked to confirm that they are undergraduate students, or that they have graduated from Brunel in the past two years, as part of the submissions process. Students who graduated from Brunel prior to 24th July 2024 will be eligible for the Nero New Writers Prize.
The winner of the inaugural Nero New Writers Prize in 2025 was a 19-year-old student, Erwin Joyce Canlubo, for their work of fiction, We Don’t Say I Love You in This House. Described by the judging panel as ‘powerful’, ‘innovative’ and ‘very confidently executed’, Canlubo’s story tells of an oppressive family environment, where rules affixed to the fridge door serve to control behaviours and stifle discord, ambitions and desires.
For those considering entering the 2026 Prize, Brunel is running the Brunel New Writers Programme: a series of free online webinars and creative writing workshops throughout the summer. For more information about the series, visit https://www.brunel.ac.uk/.
The Nero New Writers Prize runs alongside the Nero Book Awards, which is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the UK and Ireland. They celebrate the craft of great writing and the joy of reading, providing readers of all tastes with a combination of high-quality writing and universal appeal. Previous winners of the coveted Gold Prize including The Bee Sting by Paul Murray, Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst and A Family Matter by Claire Lynch. The Nero New Writers Prize and Nero Book Awards are part of the family-owned coffee house group’s long-standing programme to sponsor and encourage the arts and culture in its coffee houses and communities where it operates.