Eligible Books

The Prize is open to writers aged 50 or over at the time of publication, for their first published work of fiction or non-fiction. Proof of date of birth will be requested at the point of judging.
The writer must not have had published by a trade publisher, or self-published, a book of any kind or under any other name prior to the publication of the work entered into the Prize. This includes collections of poetry or short fiction, or academic non-fiction.
The writer must be a citizen of, or resident in, the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland (RoI).
The book must be a uni?ed work. Collections of short stories, novellas, poetry and drama are not eligible.
Books originally written in another language, and translated into English, are not eligible.
All entries must be published (in any format) for the first time in the UK or RoI within the calendar year 2025, i.e. January-December 2025. Self-published books are not eligible.

Find out more here

Deadline: 5pm on Friday 5 December 2025