The Guardian and publisher 4th Estate’s short story competition for unpublished writers of colour is open for entries for its sixth year.
Previous winners of the 4thWrite prize, which was renamed in 2021, include Gift Nyoni, with his 2021 winner The Ritual Seat of the King, a story about a boy meeting his father for the first time, and Kandace Siobhan Walker, who won in 2019 for her story Deep Heart, a poignant exploration of kinship and community.
The prize has an impressive list of alumni, with longlisted and shortlisted writers including Love in Colour author Bolu Babalola; Guy Gunaratne, who went on to win the Jhalak prize for their debut novel In Our Mad and Furious City; and Kit Fan, poet and author of Diamond Hill.
This year’s prize will be judged by author Tash Aw, who has been longlisted for the Booker prize twice; author Sara Collins, who won the 2019 Costa first novel award; Leah Davis, host and founder of Capital XTRA Book Club podcast; literary agent Catherine Cho, who is founder of Paper Literary; Justine Jordan, deputy literary editor at the Guardian; and Kishani Widyaratna, editorial director at 4th Estate.
The winner will receive £1,000, a one-day publishing workshop at 4th Estate and will have their story published on the Guardian website.
The deadline for submissions is 14 August, with the longlist announced on 21 September. The shortlist will be announced on 19 October, with the winner crowned at a November ceremony in London.
Writers can submit stories at www.4thEstate.co.uk/PRIZE, and any queries can be sent to 4thWritePrize@harpercollins.co.uk.
