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Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

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The Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

Winner: Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies

NCW is delighted to announce Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies (Picador) by Maddie Mortimer as the winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize 2022. The book — a lyrical exploration of one woman’s body and the illness that inhabits it — was described by judges as a ‘precious and personal’ work from a ‘new and spectacular talent’.

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Desmond Elliott Prize 2022: The Desmond Elliott Prize 2022

Shortlisted Books

Iron Annie

Luke Cassidy

Paperback

In Stock

£8.09 £8.99

Keeping the House

Tice Cin

Paperback

In Stock

£10.79 £11.99

Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies

Maddie Mortimer

Hardback

In Stock

£13.49 £14.99

Longlisted Books

Somebody Loves You

Mona Arshi

Paperback

In Stock

£10.79 £11.99

Assembly

Natasha Brown

Paperback

In Stock

£8.99 £9.99

Lessons in Love and Other Crimes

Elizabeth Chakrabarty

Paperback

In Stock

£10.79 £11.99

Hourglass

Keiran Goddard

Hardback

In Stock

£11.69 £12.99

Violets

Alex Hyde

Hardback

In Stock

£11.69 £12.99

Fault Lines

Emily Itami

Paperback

In Stock

£8.09 £8.99

Moth

Melody Razak

Paperback

In Stock

£8.99 £9.99

The National Centre for Writing has today announced the 10-strong longlist for the £10,000 Desmond Elliott Prize, which will be awarded to the most outstanding first novel of the past 12 months.

This Year's Judges are award-winning writer and poet Derek Owusu (chair), award-winning news correspondent Symeon Brown and Lyndsey Fineran, Programme & Commissions Manager for The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival – the oldest, and one of the largest, book festivals in the world.

Find out more about the Desmond Elliott Prize and Early Career Writing Resources at nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk.

About The Desmond Elliott Prize

The Desmond Elliott Prize

“The most prestigious award for 1st-time novelists” - Daily Telegraph

The 10-strong longlist for the 12th annual Desmond Elliott Prize, the “UK’s most prestigious award for debut novelists” (Daily Telegraph), has been revealed today (Tuesday 2nd April). The Prize, which is presented in the name of the late, acclaimed literary agent and publisher Desmond Elliott, has revealed a longlist that stretches from magical realism to rigorously researched historical novels and whose authors range from playwrights to political activists.

The Longlisted titles are:

Golden Child by Claire Adam (Faber & Faber), A Perfect Explanation by Eleanor Anstruther (Salt), Hold by Michael Donkor (4th Estate), The Chameleon by Samuel Fisher (Salt), Everything Under by Daisy Johnson (Jonathan Cape), Devoured by Anna Mackmin (Propolis Books), Future Popes of Ireland by Darragh Martin (4th Estate), Follow Me to Ground by Sue Rainsford (New Island Books), Stubborn Archivist by Yara Rodrigues Fowler (Fleet), Testament by Kim Sherwood (riverrun)

Read the Press Release from the Desmond Elliot Longlist announcement on our Blog.

Desmond Elliott

Desmond ElliottDesmond Elliott’s own story began in an Irish orphanage. In 1947, aged 16 and with just two pounds in his pocket, he left for England to start his publishing career at Macmillan. Thereafter, he set up as an agent and subsequently went on to establish his own publishing company, Arlington Books, in 1960. The charismatic, witty and waspish Elliott – who drank only champagne, flew regularly by Concorde and used Fortnum & Mason as his local grocer – nurtured numerous blockbuster authors, including Jilly Cooper, Anthony Horowitz and Penny Vincenzi. He died in August 2003 at the age of 73.

The Desmond Elliott Prize Archive

Click on a year below to view past years from this award.