Books / News
Moses McKenzie shortlisted for Writer of the Year Award
A novelist from Easton has been shortlisted for The Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award.
The literary prize is awarded for a full-length published or self-published work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by a UK or Irish author aged between 18 and 35 years old. Four people are shortlisted for this prize each year.
The winner receives £10,000 while the three runners up walk away with £1,000 each.
Harriet Baker, Scott Preston, Ralf Webb and Bristol-based Moses McKenzie are on this year’s shortlist.
This year’s shortlist includes a diverse array of books, including McKenzie’s second novel after his critically acclaimed debut in 2022 – photo: Young Writer of the Year Award
McKenzie moved to Bristol from Cornwall at the age of seven and has lived here ever since.
He was raised in Easton, a community he wrote about in his debut novel, An Olive Grove in Ends. An Olive Grove in Ends saw McKenzie win the Breakthrough Writer Award at the 2022 Soho House Awards and win the Hawthornden Prize for Literature in 2023.
McKenzie earned his place on this year’s Young Writer of the Year shortlist for his latest novel, Fast By the Horns, published in May 2024. The novel follows a 14-year-old boy, Jabari, living among a Rastafari community in 1980s St Paul’s.
Moses McKenzie was raised in Easton, a community he often writes about – photo: (c) Gee Photography.
The Young Writer of the Year Award is administered by the Society of Authors and sponsored by The Sunday Times newspaper and the Charlotte Aitken Trust, a charity dedicated to supporting literature, writing and reading.
The winner will be announced on March 18 at London’s Whitechapel Gallery.
Previous winners include Simon Armitage, Zadie Smith and Sally Rooney.
Main photo: Wildfire
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
