We had a wonderful time at the #SOAwards last night! Congratulations to all the winners, runners-up, and shortlistees. 👏
A special shoutout to Helen Heckety — winner of the ADCI Literary Prize.
Thank you @The Society of Authors for a wonderful evening!
Many congratulations to Kaycee Hill on winning an Eric Gregory Award for the manuscript of a new collection, Sonic Inheritance. Her debut collection Hot Sauce, joint winner of the inaugural James Berry Poetry Prize, was published by Bloodaxe in 2023. #SoAwards
🏆 Congrats to Helen Heckety and Katie Hale for winning the ADCI Literary Prize and ALCS Tom Gallon Trust Award at the #SoAwards
Judge Andrew Cowan said:
‘... a ‘gang of runaway utopians’ improvising a life of squatting and skiing and sexual entanglement in the vast abandoned landscapes of North America. It’s an idiosyncratic premise and a truly invigorating slalom of a novel.’
#SoAwards
Our last award of the night is the Betty Trask Prize, awarded for a debut novel by authors under 35.
Congratulations to WINNER Ashani Lewis For Winter Animals (Dialogue Books)
#SoAwards
#SoAwards
It seems a little odd that the Society of Authors Awards explicitly exclude Gaelic and Scots language writers, despite nominally being for British and UK authors.
societyofauthors.org/wp-content/u...
#SoAwards
Up next are the Eric Gregory Awards.
These awards are given for a collection by poets under the age of 30.
Congratulations to our 2025 Eric Gregory Award winners listed below:
#SoAwards
Next are our 2025 Cholmondeley Awards.
Founded in 1966, these awards recognise the achievement and distinction of individual poets.
Congratulations to our Cholmondeley Award winners:
The winners are James Byrne, Jane Commane, Annie Freud, John Lyons and Karen McCarthy Woolf
#SoAwards
Congratulations to The Queen’s Knickers Award Runner-up: Swapna Haddow and Illustrator Yiting Lee for Little Dinosaurs, Big Feelings (Magic Cat Publishing)
#SoAwards
The Queen’s Knickers Award is an annual prize for an outstanding children’s original illustrated book for ages 0-7. It recognises books that strike a quirky, new note and grab the attention of a child, whether in the form of curiosity, amusement, horror or excitement
#SoAwards
🧵
Congratulations to Runner-up, Lauren Elkin For Scaffolding (Chatto & Windus, Vintage) @laurenelkin.bsky.social
#SoAwards
Now, the McKitterick Prize, for a debut novel by an author over 40.
Tom McKitterick, former editor of the Political Quarterly and author of an unpublished novel, endowed the McKitterick Prize, which was first awarded in 1990.
#SoAwards
🧵
I’m en route to London for the #SoAwards tonight. Winners have just been announced. Many congrats to the 6 #EricGregoryAward winners. A privilege to be involved in the judging. @societyofauthors.bsky.social
Travelling Scholarships Judge Philip Terry said:
‘All writers need to travel, and the Travelling Scholarships help them do just that. It’s a particularly exciting prize, as there are no limits on the kind of work it supports.’
#SoAwards
The winners are Sally Bayley, Jasbinder Bilan, Marcus Field @marcusfield.bsky.social, Montenegro Fisher (the collaborative work of Luna Montenegro and Adrian Fisher) and Nathalie Olah @nrolah.bsky.social.
#SoAwards
On to our Travelling Scholarships, which enable writers to keep in touch with their colleagues abroad.
Established in 1944, the recipients are nominated by the assessors for the year.
Five writers are each awarded £7,000
#SoAwards
🧵
Judge Ellen Wiles @ellenwiles.bsky.social said:
‘This varied, diverse and dynamic shortlist revealed a new generation of writers buzzing with ideas and hungry to share them.’
#SoAwards
Next up are the Somerset Maugham Awards, awarded for published works of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by writers under 30, to enable them to enrich their work by gaining experience of foreign countries
🧵
#SoAwards
Next up is the Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize, awarded to a UK or Irish writer, or a writer currently resident in those countries, for a novel focusing on the experience of travel away from home
#SoAwards
🧵
Montage of photos of Southwark Cathedral, Pigin Opera composer Helen Epega and author Joseph Coelho on a gold background.
Heading to London to intro these 2 wonderful authors - Helen Epega, writer, singer, composer (& SoA board member) and the incredible award winning Joseph Coelho, at the @societyofauthors.bsky.social Awards this eve at Southwark Cathedral (rich literary tradition & a cat!) 💙📚
Can't wait!
#SoAwards
Congratulations to our runners-up of the ADCI Literary Prize
Tom Newlands for Only Here Only Now, and Victoria Hawthorne for The Darkest Night @vikkipatis.bsky.social
#SoAwards
Announcing the Society of Authors’ Awards 2025 winners! ‘Spanning genres, showing outstanding depths’
Read the full list here societyofauthors.org/2025/06/18/a...
#SoAwards
Books by the shortlist and winning authors can be purchased from bookshop.org: uk.bookshop.org/lists/soa-aw... #SoAwards
The winners will share a prize pot of over £170,000.
Watch on the live stream societyofauthors.org/society-of-a...
With support from the ALCS.
#SoAwards
ONE DAY MORE
This time tomorrow we will be opening our Society of Authors' Awards and Summer Party.
This year’s awards are a showcase of the written word across all genres and formats, celebrating novels, non-fiction, children’s books, short stories and poetry.
#SoAwards
We look forward to seeing you there, either in person or on the Livestream from 7pm. societyofauthors.org/society-of-a...
#SoAwards
The Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (ADCI) Literary Prize is open to all authors with disabilities and chronic illnesses, both visible and invisible. It is sponsored by @aceagrams, @alcs_uk , the Professional Writing Academy and the Drusilla Harvey Memorial Fund.
#SoAwards
In memory of Malcolm Lowry and endowed by Gordon Bowker, his biographer, and Ramdei Bowke, "Prize shortlist transport the reader to worlds perilous, political, speculative and amorous." says judge Jini Reddy
Join us on 18 June at Southwark Cathedral to hear the winner.
#SoAwards
3/3
We are delighted to announce the shortlist for The Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize, This prize is awarded to a UK or Irish writer, or a writer currently resident in those countries, for a novel focusing on the experience of travel away from home.
#SoAwards
🧵
