Zealot Script

The 2024 Future Worlds Prize is now open for entries! They’re looking for great works of science fiction and fantasy by new writers who self-identify as a person of colour.

The prize was set up in response to statistics that showed that less than 1% of books in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres were from British authors of colour. The analysis of the Nielsen Bookscan figures showed that of 4,589 SFF books published in 2018, only five British writers of colour were represented.

Author Ben Aaronovitch teamed up with science fiction and fantasy publisher Gollancz in 2019 to launch what was then the Gollancz and Rivers of London BAME SFF Award.

Renamed Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour, the prize is now funded by Ben Aaronovitch and Adjoa Andoh.

“There’s a problem with British speculative fiction – it lacks diversity. It is, in fact, whiter than a polar bear in a snowstorm who’s decided to redecorate their cave with Dulux’s brand new white, with a touch of white collection.”

Ben Aaronovitch

Actor Adjoa Andoh was a judge on the prize in its first year, and is now a co-sponsor of the prize.

For more information, visit the website.

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Entry information

To enter, you must:

• self-identify as a person of colour
• be aged over 18
• be living in the UK or Ireland.

As part of your entry, please submit:

• a 5,000-10,000 word extract of either a short story or the opening chapters of a novel
• a covering letter
• a short summary/synopsis of your work, of no more than 1,000 words.

Please ensure that you submit three separate documents, and that your name does not appear anywhere on the extract or synopsis.

Accepted formats are:

• Microsoft Word
• Pages
• PDF
• Google Doc.

Read the full terms and conditions for the prize below.

Your entry should be sent to: submissions@futureworldsprize.co.uk.

Key dates for the prize are:

• Entries close: January 29, 2024
• Shortlist announced: March 2024
• Winner announced: April 2024

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The 2024 judges

M. H. Ayinde

M. H. Ayinde was the 2021 winner of the Future Worlds Prize. Her debut epic fantasy trilogy will be published by Orbit Books, beginning in spring 2025 with A Song of Legends Lost. Her short fiction has appeared in FIYAH Literary Magazine, F&SF, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and elsewhere. She is a runner, a lapsed martial artist, and a screen time enthusiast. She lives in London with three generations of her family and their Studio Ghibli obsession.

Isabelle Dupuy

Isabelle Dupuy’s first novel Living the Dream was shortlisted for the Diverse Book Awards and was recommended in the Guardian as a summer read 2021. Isabelle has written on topics ranging from motherhood to becoming a writer and a British national and has been published in the New York Times, Bad Form Review, The Big Issue North, On the Hill, Black Ballad, the Bookseller and more. She was a reader for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2021 and was the chairwoman for the London Library’s Emerging Writers’ Competition 2020. Isabelle is currently writing her second book, Maker of Men, a historical novel based on the true life of Haitian politician and ultimate survivor Joute Lachenais.

Femi Fadugba

Femi Fadugba is a quantum physicist turned BCG consultant turned best-selling author of The Upper World, soon to be on Netflix, with a long-standing passion for STEM education. A sequel to The Upper World, titled The Mirror World, will be released in 2025.

Natalie Jerome

Natalie Jerome is the founder of Originate Literary Agency (OLA), a multi-media agency representing a diverse range of writers, creatives and original content creators making change through storytelling. Clients include the actor David Harewood; comedian, writer, actor, philanthropist and co-founder of Comic Relief, Sir Lenny Henry; World Boxing Champion and Britain’s youngest Olympic medallist Amir Khan; and venture capitalist, entrepreneur and technology executive Eric Collins.

Tade Thompson

Tade Thompson is best known for Rosewater, The Murders of Molly Southbourne, and Far from the Light of Heaven. He writes books, short stories, and screenplays. He is a winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Nommo Award, among others, and finalist for the Hugo, Shirley Jackson, Theodore Sturgeon Award, among others. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives and works in the UK. His background is in medicine, psychiatry, and anthropology. He is an occasional visual artist.