Shortlist for The Sunday Times / Peters Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year Award 2017

Picture of Martin Reed

Martin Reed

Martin was the SoA's Head of Communications from 2016 to 2024.

29 October 2017

We are delighted to announce the shortlist for The Sunday Times / Peters Fraser + Dunlop Young Writer of the Year Award 2017.

The 2017 shortlist was chosen by the award-winning novelist Elif Shafak and acclaimed cultural historian and biographer Lucy Hughes-Hallett alongside Andrew Holgate, The Sunday Times Literary Editor. The winner will be announced at a ceremony on 7 December at the London Library. The winner will receive £5,000 with £500 going to the runners-up.

This year’s shortlist includes:

  • Outlandish Knight, The Byzantine Life of Steven Runciman by Minoo Dinshaw (Allen Lane)
  • The End of the Day by Claire North(Orbit)
  • The Lucky Ones by Julianne Pachico (Faber & Faber)
  • Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber)
  • The Lauras by Sara Taylor (William Heinemann)

About the prize

The prize, administered by the SoA, was founded in 1991 and has since accumulated an exceptional list of alumni – winners who have had great successes in contemporary literature

The 2016 Award went to Max Porter for Grief is the Thing with Feathers (Faber), which received exceptional critical acclaim winning the International Dylan Thomas Prize and Waterstones book of the month.

This year’s award will also be chronicled by an official shadow judging panel made up of some of the country’s leading book bloggers: Dane Cobain (socialbookshelves.com), Rebecca Foster (bookishbeck.wordpress.com), Elle Franzen (ellethinks.wordpress.com), Annabel Gaskell (shinynewbooks.co.uk / gaskella.wordpress.com) and Clare Rowland (littleblogofbooks.com).

The next Young Writer Award will be presented in 2018.

For the full press release please see here.

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