Novel London 2020 - Novel London

Novel London Literary Festival 2020
This year's festival transitioned online and we received entries from as far as Australia and California!

WINNERS

Aisling Watters
1st Prize
Novel London Trophy
- £500 Cash Prize
- Faber Academy Manuscript Assessment

Aisling Watters is twenty-eight. She lives in Wexford, south-east Ireland and she has a BA in English, Sociology and Politcs from NUI Galway and an MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature from University College Dublin.

She was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2020 and is represented by Elise Dillsworth.
Rupi Gohlar
2nd Prize
£300 Cash Prize
- 6 month Writing Mentorship with Nadine Matheson

Rupi Gohar has BA in English Literature (2.1 with honours) from the University of Sheffield and postgraduate course in Journalism and Editorial training with the Trinity Mirror Group as well as a Novel Writing and Longer Works course at the City University of London. She worked as a Senior Journalist and Features Writer for a number of years before moving on to a career in Communications and PR.

Same Same But Different is her debut novel.

Simon Cowdroy
3rd Prize
- £100 Cash Prize
- Bespoke Coaching With Melanie Abraham of Renaissance One

Simon lives as part of a dog dominated family near Melbourne, Australia. He returned to fiction in 2017 after a long absence and in 2018 two of his initial pieces of Flash Fiction were published in Bath Anthology Three. In 2019 he joined UK based @VirtualZine as senior editor/reader. In 2020 he repeated his flash fiction success with a runner-up prize at Bath Flash Fiction out of 1461 entries.

His first crime novel, Cut of a Knife, was a Pitch Perfect finalist at Bloody Scotland in 2018.
Judges

ELISE DILLSWORTH became a literary agent in 2012. She was a commissioning editor at Virago Press, an imprint of Little Brown Book Group.

She co-founded the Diversity in Publishing Network, which received the New Venture Award from Women in Publishing in 2005.

She has been a judge for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Bocas Fiction Prize, SI Leeds Prize, the London Short Story Prize and the Northern Writers’ Awards.
BOBBY NAYYAR is a writer, publisher and programme manager. He started his publishing career in 2005, when he became the first recipient of an Arts Council England bursary to train in publishing at Faber and Faber. He went on to join the marketing department at Little, Brown Book Group.

In 2009, he founded his own publishing house, Limehouse Books. He has also managed Equality in Publishing, helping to set up the Publishing Equalities Charter and worked at Wasafiri Magazine. In 2018, he joined Spread the Word, London’s writer development agency, as programme manager working on their London Writers Awards project, prizes and workshops.
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Novel London Literary Festival 2020
This year's Novel London Literary Festival took place on Saturday 26th September & Sunday 27th 2020. It included a series of practical and inspirational workshops and seminars, focusing on developing writers in the present and the future.

NLLF2020 SESSION 1:
MARKETING WORKSHOP
SAT 26 SEPT

Melissa Addey won the first Novel London Literary Competition Prize last year, which was held at Foyles Bookshop in London with her novel, The Cold Palace - Book 4 of The Forbidden City Series.

For the online 2020 Novel London Festival, Melissa taught a workshop on the fundamentals of writing and marketing.

Melissa Addey writes historical fiction set in China, Morocco and Ancient Rome. She was the 2016 Leverhulme Trust Writer in Residence at the British Library and has taught many students about writing and marketing.

She spent fifteen years in business before becoming a fulltime author. She recently completed a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Surrey which included writing The Garden of Perfect Brightness for her Chinese series and looking at the importance of fiction in historical fiction.

She lives in London with her husband and two children.
NLLF2020 SESSION 3:
FINDING THE RIGHT MENTOR
SAT 26 SEPT

In this seminar, Nadine Matheson and Melanie Abraham will be discussed the importance of finding the right mentor and coach during the developmental phase of your writing.

Melanie Abrahams is the founder of Renaissance One and Tilt. As an active freelancer in the creative industries, she consistently pushes for greater diversity in the arts, with a focus on narratives of race, class, mixed-race identities and intersectionality.

Nadine Matheson has always been passionate about writing and storytelling. She was born and lives in London and is a Criminal Solicitor. In 2016, she won the City University Crime Writing Competition and completed the Creative Writing (Crime/Thriller Novels) MA at City University of London with Distinction in 2018. She is the author of Jigsaw Man, which is currently available for preorder.
NLLF2020 SESSION 4
READINGS
SUN 27 SEPT

Judged by top literary agent, Elise Dillsworth and Publisher and Programme Manager, Bobby Nayyar, this year's Novel London Literary Competition was open to international entries.

This year's shortlist featured Aisling Watters, Bren Gosling, Claire Mitchell, Pippa Brush Chappell, Rupi Gohlar & Simon Cowdroy.

1st Prize
- £500 Cash Prize
- Faber Academy Manuscript Assessment
Won by Aisling Watters

2nd Prize
- £300 Cash Prize
- 6 month Writing Mentorship with Nadine Matheson.
Won by Rupi Gohlar

3rd Prize
- £100 Cash Prize
- Bespoke Coaching With Melanie Abraham of Renaissance One.
Won by Simon Cowdroy
Novel London Literary Festival 2020
This year's Novel London Literary Festival took place on Saturday 26th September & Sunday 27th 2020. It included a series of practical and inspirational workshops and seminars, focusing on developing writers in the present and the future.

NLLF2020 SESSION 1:
MARKETING WORKSHOP
SAT 26 SEPT

Melissa Addey won the first Novel London Literary Competition Prize last year, which was held at Foyles Bookshop in London with her novel, The Cold Palace - Book 4 of The Forbidden City Series.

For the online 2020 Novel London Festival, Melissa taught a workshop on the fundamentals of writing and marketing.

Melissa Addey writes historical fiction set in China, Morocco and Ancient Rome. She was the 2016 Leverhulme Trust Writer in Residence at the British Library and has taught many students about writing and marketing.

She spent fifteen years in business before becoming a fulltime author. She recently completed a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Surrey which included writing The Garden of Perfect Brightness for her Chinese series and looking at the importance of fiction in historical fiction.

She lives in London with her husband and two children.
NLLF2020 SESSION 3:
FINDING THE RIGHT MENTOR
SAT 26 SEPT

In this seminar, Nadine Matheson and Melanie Abraham will be discussed the importance of finding the right mentor and coach during the developmental phase of your writing.

Melanie Abrahams is the founder of Renaissance One and Tilt. As an active freelancer in the creative industries, she consistently pushes for greater diversity in the arts, with a focus on narratives of race, class, mixed-race identities and intersectionality.

Nadine Matheson has always been passionate about writing and storytelling. She was born and lives in London and is a Criminal Solicitor. In 2016, she won the City University Crime Writing Competition and completed the Creative Writing (Crime/Thriller Novels) MA at City University of London with Distinction in 2018. She is the author of Jigsaw Man, which is currently available for preorder.
NLLF2020 SESSION 4
READINGS
SUN 27 SEPT

Judged by top literary agent, Elise Dillsworth and Publisher and Programme Manager, Bobby Nayyar, this year's Novel London Literary Competition was open to international entries.

This year's shortlist featured Aisling Watters, Bren Gosling, Claire Mitchell, Pippa Brush Chappell, Rupi Gohlar & Simon Cowdroy.

1st Prize
- £500 Cash Prize
- Faber Academy Manuscript Assessment
Won by Aisling Watters

2nd Prize
- £300 Cash Prize
- 6 month Writing Mentorship with Nadine Matheson.
Won by Rupi Gohlar

3rd Prize
- £100 Cash Prize
- Bespoke Coaching With Melanie Abraham of Renaissance One.
Won by Simon Cowdroy
CONTACT US
*By contacting us, you agree to be contacted about relevant workshops and events connected to Novel London.
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Novel London Literary Competition 2020

(Entries are now closed)
FIRST PRIZE
£500 Cash Prize
+ Faber Academy Manuscript Assessment (worth £500)
SECOND PRIZE
£300 Cash Prize
+ 6 month Writing Mentorship with Nadine Matheson
THIRD PRIZE
£100 Cash Prize + Bespoke Coaching With Melanie Abraham of Renaissance One

Submissions have now been passed onto the judges.
Thank you and good luck to everyone who submitted.
Novel London Judge
ELISE DILLSWORTH became a literary agent in 2012. She was a commissioning editor at Virago Press, an imprint of Little Brown Book Group.

She co-founded the Diversity in Publishing Network, which received the New Venture Award from Women in Publishing in 2005.

She has been a judge for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Bocas Fiction Prize, SI Leeds Prize, the London Short Story Prize and the Northern Writers’ Awards.
Novel London Judge
BOBBY NAYYAR is a writer, publisher and programme manager. He started his publishing career in 2005, when he became the first recipient of an Arts Council England bursary to train in publishing at Faber and Faber. He went on to join the marketing department at Little, Brown Book Group.

In 2009, he founded his own publishing house, Limehouse Books. He has also managed Equality in Publishing, helping to set up the Publishing Equalities Charter and worked at Wasafiri Magazine. In 2018, he joined Spread the Word, London’s writer development agency, as programme manager working on their London Writers Awards project, prizes and workshops.
Novel London Literary Festival 2020
This year's Novel London Literary Festival will take place on Saturday 26th September & Sunday 27th 2020. It includes a series of practical and inspirational workshops and seminars, focusing on developing writers in the present and the future.

2020 has seen tremendous changes and upheavals: lives have been lost, livelihoods have been affected as has the minds of many people. During this challenging time, some writers have been writing and others have not. We hope that you will join us to reconnect with your story and the stories of others as we (re)learn to navigate the narratives on and off the page.
Judges

Elise Dillsworth
Elise Dillsworth Agency
Elise Dillsworth became a literary agent in 2012. She was a commissioning editor at Virago Press, an imprint of Little Brown Book Group. She co-founded the Diversity in Publishing Network, which received the New Venture Award from Women in Publishing in 2005.

She has been a judge for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Bocas Fiction Prize, SI Leeds Prize, the London Short Story Prize and the Northern Writers’ Awards.
Bobby Nayyar
Limehouse Publishing
Bobby Nayyar started at Faber and Faber as a publishing trainee on an ACE diversity scheme, finishing after 11 months to start a job as a marketing executive at Little, Brown Book Group.

In 2009 he left to set up his own publishing company, Limehouse Books. In 2011 he also managed Diversity in Publishing for two years, rebranding it as Equality in Publishing.
NOVEL LONDON COMPETITION - 2020
Novel London is a literary platform that has supported and showcased over 80 writers since 2015. It began as a literary night at The Big Green Bookshop and went on to being featured in Waterstones bookshops and iconic venues such as The Clock Tower in King's Cross. Its first annual literary festival was held at Foyles Bookshop on Saturday 17th August 2019. The event and all readings were filmed and put online.

This year's festival will be taking place online and we are excited to be bringing some incredible opportunities and prizes to writers from across the globe.

Last year's entries were open to the UK only and this year we've gone global! We particular invite writer from BAME, LGBT and Disabled communities to enter.

The live event that was due to take place in August 2020 (new date is to be confirmed) will now take place online.

SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN TO INTERNATIONAL ENTRIES!

FIRST PRIZE
£500 Cash Prize
+ Faber Academy Manuscript Assessment (worth £500)

SECOND PRIZE
£300 Cash Prize
+ 6 month Writing Mentorship with Nadine Matheson

THIRD PRIZE
£100 Cash Prize
Bespoke Coaching With Melanie Abraham of Renaissance One
Lunch with an Publishing Professional (TBC)

ENTRY FEE - £11

SUBMISSION PROCESS

Email the following to novellondon@gmail.com:

- Opening chapter of your novel.
- Biography
- Synopsis
- Blurb
- Paypal receipt

Complete your entry by paying the fee using the buy now button below.

*By entering, you agree to be contacted about relevant workshops and events connected to Novel London.

Thank you and good luck!

Image by Melk Hagelslag from Pixabay
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NOVEL LONDON ONLINE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2020
Preliminary Program of Events
Tickets available from August 2020
Novel London Session 1 - Writing Workshop with Melissa Addey

Melissa Addey won the first Novel London Literary Competition Prize last year, which was held at Foyles Bookshop in London.
For the online 2020 Novel London Festival, she joins us this year for a writing and marketing workshop.

Melissa Addey writes historical fiction set in China, Morocco and Ancient Rome. She was the 2016 Leverhulme Trust Writer in Residence at the British Library and is currently completing a PhD in Creative Writing. She lives in London with her husband and two children.

www.melissaaddey.com
Novel London Session 2 - Finding The Right Mentor

Novel London Session 2 - Finding The Right Mentor

In this seminar, Nadine Matheson and Melanie Abraham will be discussing the importance of finding the right mentor and coach during the developmental phase of your writing.

Melanie has been has been furthering the art of literature, poetry, and spoken word, for over 17 years. She is founder of independent organisations Renaissance One and Tilt, which make regular use of live events, tours and commissions to highlight the diverse canons of British and international literature.

As an active freelancer in the creative industries, she consistently pushes for greater diversity in the arts, with a focus on narratives of race, class, mixed-race identities and intersectionality.

www.renaissanceone.co.uk

Nadine Matheson has always been passionate about writing and storytelling. She was born and lives in London and is a Criminal Solicitor.
In 2016, she won the City University Crime Writing Competition and completed the Creative Writing (Crime/Thriller Novels) MA at City University of London with Distinction in 2018.

Her crime novel, The Jigsaw Man, will be published by HQ on 18 March 2021.

www.nadinematheson.com
Featuring Melissa Addey

Join last year's winner from The Novel London Competition for a writing and marketing workshop.

Writing - Not Writing: Discussing Mental Health & Lockdown

Speakers: TBC

Followed by a Q&A Session
Novel London Session 5 - An Evening Of Readings

Come and join us for an evening of readings from the shortlist of this year's Novel London Literary Competition.

1st Prize
£500 Cash Prize + Faber Academy Manuscript Assessment (worth Â£500)

2nd Prize
£300 Cash Prize + 6 month Writing Mentorship with Nadine Matheson

3rd Prize
£100 Cash Prize + Bespoke Coaching With Melanie Abraham of Renaissance One
Novel London Literary Festival 2020
Novel London is a literary platform that has supported and showcased over 80 writers since 2015. It began as a literary night at The Big Green Bookshop and went on to being featured in Waterstones bookshops and iconic venues such as The Clock Tower in King's Cross. Its first annual literary festival was held at Foyles Bookshop on Saturday 17th August 2019. The event and all of the readings were filmed and put online.

In response to COVID-19, we have transitioned this year's event online and once again are running a competition that is open to international entries.

The live event that was due to take place in August 2020 (new date is to be confirmed) will now take place online.

During this challenging time, you may be writing, you may be not. Firstly, we want to say that we are sorry if you are grieving and are in the midst of grief and we hope that you have the support you need.

Now, more than ever, stories are important. Creativity is important. Writing from all parts of the global experience matters and we are here to bring emerging and established writers to an international audience.

Novel London is currently running a competition but as things been somewhat up in the air of late, we are reimagining this years format.

PLEASE WATCH THIS SPACE FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS

Thank you and good luck!

*By entering, you agree to be contacted about relevant workshops and events connected to Novel London.
Sign up for Updates
Lineup

Novel London Session 1
Writing Workshop with Melissa Addey

Melissa Addey won the first Novel London Literary Competition Prize last year, which was held at Foyles Bookshop in London with her novel, The Cold Palace - Book 4 of The Forbidden City Series.

For the online 2020 Novel London Festival, she joins us to teach a workshop in the fundamentals of writing and marketing.

Melissa Addey writes historical fiction set in China, Morocco and Ancient Rome. She was the 2016 Leverhulme Trust Writer in Residence at the British Librar and has taught many students about writing and marketing.

She spent fifteen years in business before becoming a fulltime author. She recently completed a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Surrey which included writing The Garden of Perfect Brightness for her Chinese series and looking at the importance of fiction in historical fiction.

She lives in London with her husband and two children.

Tickets £6 - 10

BOOK HERE
Novel London Session 2
Finding The Right Mentor

In this seminar, Nadine Matheson and Melanie Abraham will be discussing the importance of finding the right mentor and coach during the developmental phase of your writing.

Melanie Abrahams is the founder of Renaissance One and Tilt. As an active freelancer in the creative industries, she consistently pushes for greater diversity in the arts, with a focus on narratives of race, class, mixed-race identities and intersectionality.

Nadine Matheson has always been passionate about writing and storytelling. She was born and lives in London and is a Criminal Solicitor. In 2016, she won the City University Crime Writing Competition and completed the Creative Writing (Crime/Thriller Novels) MA at City University of London with Distinction in 2018. She is the author of Jigsaw Man, which is currently available for preorder.

She has mentored many writers over an extended period to develop their craft.

Tickets £6 - 10

BOOK HERE

Novel London Session 3
COVID19. Lockdown & Creativity

In this seminar the Founder & Director of Race Reflections ltd, Senior Psychologist. Adj. Prof. of Critical Psychology - Guilaine Kinouani - talks about creating a safe space for mental health.

Tickets £6 - 10

BOOK HERE
Novel London Session 5
An Evening Of Readings

Judged by Elise Dillsworth and Bobby Nayyar, this year's Novel London Literary Competition was open to international entries. All genres were welcome.

Join us for an evening of readings from the shortlist - TBA

1st Prize

- £500 Cash Prize
- Faber Academy Manuscript Assessment (worth £500)

2nd Prize

- £300 Cash Prize
- 6 month Writing Mentorship with Nadine Matheson.

3rd Prize

- £100 Cash Prize
- Bespoke Coaching With Melanie Abraham of Renaissance One.

Tickets £6 - 10

BOOK HERE
NOVEL LONDON ONLINE LITERARY FESTIVAL 2020
Preliminary Program of Events
Tickets available from August 2020
Diversity in Publishing

Featured authors: TBC

Followed by a Q&A session.

The Importance of Development
- Finding The Right Writing Mentor

Featuring Nadine Matheson and Melanie Abraham

Followed by a Q&A session.
Featuring Melissa Addey

Join last year's winner from The Novel London Competition for a writing and marketing workshop.

Writing - Not Writing: Discussing Mental Health & Lockdown

Speakers: TBC

Followed by a Q&A Session
Novel London Readings

An evening of
5 minute readings from the shortlisted writers of The 2020 Novel London Competition.

Featured authors: TBC
Preliminary Program of Events
Limited Seats available at £15 for the day
Please note that social distancing will be in force, masks will be required and sanitising stations will be available upon entry.

Writing Workshop with Melissa Addey
12.30 - 13:30
Join last year's winner from The Novel London Competition for a writing and marketing workshop.

Followed by a Q&A session.
Diversity in Publishing - Black Writers Guild Panel Discussion
14.00 - 15:00
Featured authors: TBC
Followed by a Q&A session.
Crowdfunding Your Novel - Unbounders
15:30 - 16:30
The world's 1st crowdfunding publisher, Unbounders will be talking about how to turn great ideas into books. Be part of our crowd!

Talk by Joelle Owusu of Unbounders.

Followed by a Q&A session.
Novel London Readings
17:30-19:00
Join us as we celebrate the work of the competition entrants in an evening of readings.

Featured authors: TBC

The evening will culminate in the prize giving ceremony.
The Venue - The British Library
An iconic event venue in the heart of London

96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB
Novel London Literary Festival 2020
To do our part to contain the spread of COVID-19, the live event that was to take place on Saturday 1st August 2020 has now transitioned online.

OR

Novel London's Literary Festival will be taking place outdoors in central London with very limited seats. Government guidelines have announced that up to 30 people can gather in public.

Please note that social distancing will be in force, masks will be required and sanitising stations will be available upon entry. This will be a strictly guest listed event.

Sign up for Updates