The shortlists for the Society of Authors’ Awards 2025 have been revealed and include bestselling authors Matt Haig, David Nicholls, Elif Shafak and Ali Smith.

There are seven shortlists across categories including prose, poetry and children’s literature: the ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award, the Betty Trask Prize, the Queen’s Knickers Award, the McKitterick Prize, the Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize, and the books celebrated by the ADCI Literary Prize.

What are the Society of Authors' Awards?

The annual Society of Authors’ Awards recognises the best and most promising literary voices of the year. The awards for fiction are open to work from writers at all stages of their careers, from short stories to novels, and they accept submissions from both self-published and traditionally-published authors.

They also administer awards that celebrate the best in non-fiction writing from young authors, alongside prizes for illustrated children’s books.

Their poetry awards celebrate excellence in poetry, rewarding emerging poets as well those established in their careers.

The winners will be announced on Wednesday 18th June at Southwark Cathedral and will share a prize fund of more than £170,000. The awards ceremony will be hosted by Helen Epega and keynote speaker Joseph Coelho, with words of introduction by management committee chair Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, and a video welcome from The Very Reverend Dr Mark Oakley. 

Winners of the Travelling Scholarships, Cholmondeley Awards, Eric Gregory Awards and Somerset Maugham Awards will also be announced on the night. 

O’Loughlin said: “The awards truly demonstrate the breadth and height of voices both nationally and internationally. We are delighted to be able to showcase the richness of talent across so many genre areas and are thrilled each year with the reach of submissions. As authors, we understand what these books represent and the SoA Awards are a rare opportunity to celebrate and reward the work of a huge range of talent.”

Tickets to the in-person event can be purchased here. The event will be live-streamed. Online attendance is free with RSVP available via this link. 

ADCI Literary Prize

Sponsored by Arts Council England, the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), the Drusilla Harvey Memorial Fund, and the Professional Writing Academy, the ADCI Literary Prize is awarded to a disabled or chronically ill writer, for an outstanding novel containing a disabled or chronically ill character or characters.

The Darkest Night by Victoria Hawthorne 

Alter Ego by Helen Heckety 

Only Here, Only Now by Tom Newlands  

ALCS Tom Gallon Trust Award 

Sponsored by ALCS and Hawthornden Foundation, the ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award is awarded for a short story by a writer who has had at least one short story accepted for publication. 

This Is How it Happens by Molly Aitken

God’s Doorbell by Naomi Alderman

The Triangle by Daisy Fletcher 

But the fire will spit again by Hamish Gray

Raise, Or How to Break Free of the Ground, or The Lakeland Dialect for Slippery Is Slape and to Form It in the Mouth Requires an Act of Falling by Katie Hale

Into Duty, Into Longing, Into Sparrows’ (Beneath Ceaseless Skies) by Somto Ihezue 

Betty Trask Prize 

The Betty Trask Prize is presented for a first novel by a writer under 35. 

I Died at Fallow Hall by Bonnie Burke-Patel. Centred on a country estate murder, this captivating crime mystery is steeped in the intrigue of character and place.

Winter Animals by Ashani Lewis - which LoveReading's Joanne Owen cdescribed as "atmospheric and addictive, and driven by questions, uncertainty and emotional unease, Winter Animals is chillingly gripping."

Gender Theory by Madeline Docherty 

Fragile Animals by Genevieve Jagger

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O’Connor

England Is Mine by Nicolas Padamsee 

Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize 

The Gordon Bowker Volcano 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.

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig which LoveReading's Deborah Maclaren described as "a magical love letter to Ibiza reminding us to live life to the full."

The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya 

My Friends by Hisham Matar

You Are Here by David Nicholls which LoveReading described as "Goddamned gorgeous. Another glorious love story from the master as you urge the walkers on, every step of the Coast to Coast journey."

There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak 

Gliff by Ali Smith 

McKitterick Prize 

Sponsored by Hawthornden Foundation, the McKitterick Prize is awarded for a first novel by a writer over 40.

Guilty by Definition by Susie Dent 

Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin 

Clinical Intimacy by Ewan Gass 

Monumenta by Lara Haworth  

The Coast Road by Alan Murrin 

Only Here, Only Now by Tom Newlands 

Queen’s Knickers Award 

Sponsored by its founder Nicholas Allan, 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. 

To see the list, dive into our feature on LoveReading4Kids.

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Visit their website at https://societyofauthors.org/

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