Arnott, Jake
Jake Arnott’s bestselling debut novel The Long Firm was adapted as a BAFTA award-winning BBC TV drama series. His second, He Kills Coppers was made into a critically acclaimed ITV1 series, and along with his third book, truecrime, formed a trilogy that was awarded the Crime Writers Association Dagger in the Library. Subsequent works include […]
Akbar, Arifa
Arifa Akbar is chief theatre critic at The Guardian. A journalist of several decades, she is a former literary editor of The Independent where she also worked as a news reporter and arts correspondent. She has also worked as arts editor at Tortoise Media, and written for newspapers including the Financial Times, The Observer and […]
Allnutt, Gillian
Gillian Allnutt has published ten poetry collections, all but two with Bloodaxe Books. The latest, lode, came out in May 2025. How the Bicycle Shone: New & Selected Poems (2007) includes work from Nantucket and the Angel (1997) and Lintel (2001), both shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. She has taught creative writing in universities, […]
Abdullah, Kia
Kia Abdullah is the bestselling author of five novels. She has been longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award and won the Adult Fiction Diverse Book Award (2022) and a JB Priestley Award for Writers of Promise (2020). She has written for the New York Times, the Guardian and the FT among others, and has […]
Allen-Paisant, Jason
Jason Allen-Paisant is a Jamaican writer and award-winning poet, author of Self-Portrait as Othello, which won both the Forward and T.S. Eliot Prizes in 2023, and of Thinking with Trees. His latest book, The Possibility of Tenderness, is a work of literary nonfiction. He holds a doctorate from Oxford and is Professor of Critical Theory and Creative Writing at […]
Abdulrazzak, Hassan
Hassan is an award-winning writer of Iraqi origin, born in Prague and living in London. His plays include The Special Relationship, And Here I Am, Love, Bombs and Apples, The Prophet and Baghdad Wedding (all published by Bloomsbury). Hassan has translated numerous Arabic plays and contributed to several anthologies including Iraq +100 (Comma Press). The […]
SuAndi
SuAndi is a writer, poet and arts practitioner born and raised in Manchester by a Liverpool Irish mother and a Nigerian Ijaw father. Since joining the arts she has taken up every opportunity to expand her skills; this has been particular to her role as the Freelance Cultural Director of National Black Arts Alliance as […]
Ardizzone, Sarah
Sarah is a translator of diverse French-speaking voices. Her work spans literary fiction for all ages, as well as memoir, hip-hop lyrics, graphic novels and picture books. Authors include Faïza Guène, Gaël Faye, Alain Mabanckou, Daniel Pennac and Alexandre Dumas. She has twice received the Scott Moncrieff prize and the Marsh award. In 2022 she […]
Astor, Lucy
Lucy established the Encore Award in 1990 as a prize to honour the best second novel of the year. The award has been managed by the RSL since 2016 and has recently risen to £15,000 with £1,000 to be awarded to all four of its shortlisted books. Lucy is hugely proud of all the prize’s […]