- The Nero Book Awards have established a new prize to identify and assist talented new writers in the UK and Ireland
- The winner of the Nero New Writers Prize will receive a total cash prize of £3,000, a scholarship for an MA in Creative Writing at Brunel University of London and an introduction to a literary agent
- Sophie Elmhirst, whose debut book Maurice and Maralyn became a Sunday Times bestseller after winning the 2024 Nero Gold Prize, Book of the Year, will join Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel, Bernardine Evaristo, to judge the new prize
- Submissions for original, unpublished short stories (fiction, children’s fiction and non-fiction) will open on Friday 1st August 2025
- Submit your entry at www.nerobookawards.com
Friday 1st August 2025: Premium coffee house Caffè Nero and Brunel University of London today open submissions for the Nero New Writers Prize, a bold new award searching for the best original short stories from unpublished and aspiring writers from the UK and Ireland.
Entries must be an original, unpublished short story of up to 5,000 words in either fiction or non-fiction, and the Prize is open to adults who are citizens of, or resident in, the UK and Ireland.
Launched to run alongside the prestigious and highly successful Nero Book Awards, the Nero New Writers Prize in association with Brunel University of London seeks to uncover the best and brightest untapped writing talent and support them as they develop into the stars of the future.
Submissions will be judged anonymously on the quality of prose and readability by a panel chaired by author and journalist Sophie Elmhirst, winner of the 2024 Nero Gold Prize for Maurice and Maralyn. She is joined by Bernardine Evaristo, bestselling author and Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel, and novelist and academic Helen Cullen, Reader in Creative Writing at Brunel.
The winner will receive £3,000, a scholarship for an MA in Creative Writing at Brunel, and an introduction to a literary agent. Each runner-up will receive £1,000 and a mentorship session with a member of Brunel’s Creative Writing faculty.
Submissions open on 1st August 2025 and close at 5pm BST on 29th August 2025. The Prize is administered by the Booksellers Association.
Gerry Ford, Founder and CEO, Caffè Nero, said: “I started with the desire to help talented new writers in their careers. It’s a field where getting read and recognised is a huge hurdle. So, I decided to launch the Nero New Writers Prize, hoping this would greatly assist one writer and inspire hundreds more annually. We have long been champions of emerging artistic talent across the arts and this prize further strengthens that commitment. It builds on and expands the deeper purpose of the Nero Book Awards, which aim to recognise and celebrate outstanding writing. It’s exciting to think that some of the writers from this new award could be the Nero Gold Prize winners of the future!”
Andrew Jones, Vice-Chancellor, Brunel University of London added: “We are incredibly proud to partner with Caffè Nero on this exciting venture to find, nurture, and champion the literary stars of the future. At Brunel, many of our Creative Writing team are award-winning authors themselves and we have a proud history of mentoring emerging voices and shaping the literary landscape. We believe talent should never be constrained by background or circumstance. Whether in education, the arts, or beyond, we want to ensure that everyone – regardless of where they come from – is given the opportunity to succeed. The Nero New Writing Prize is an extension of that belief.”
The Nero Book Awards is one of the leading literary prizes in the UK and Ireland with previous winners of the coveted Gold Prize including The Bee Sting by Paul Murray and Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst. Past judges include celebrated journalist and bestselling author Bill Bryson, renowned broadcaster and journalist Emily Maitlis and lexicographer and media personality Susie Dent. 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.
For more information about the Nero New Writers Prize in association with Brunel University of London, including the entry form for submissions, visit www.nerobookawards.com.