Inaugural Mary Prince Memorial Award Winners Announced

The first recipients of the Black Writers’ Guild’s inaugural Mary Prince Memorial Award will be: award-winning playwright Janice Okoh, Faisal Lawal, Naomi Evans, and poet Merrie Joy Williams. 

The Black Writers Guild is also funding writing development for 6 additional writers at the National Centre of Writing as part of the overall £15,000 support fund for writers.

The award launched by the Black Writers’ Guild to financially support writers of African or African Caribbean heritage living in Britain and over 35 years old to complete their manuscript was named after Mary Prince, the first black woman published in Britain.

The award is for the following manuscripts:

• Janice Okoh’s "The Girl with the Light Eyes," is a gripping novel featuring the intertwined lives of three characters in the wake of a child's disappearance. This suspenseful narrative explores human emotions, societal issues, and a complex web of secrets.
  
  

• Merrie Joy Williams' novel "SO" is set in 1980s Manchester and delves into the themes of friendship and generational secrets, primarily through the eyes of Sophie, a highly sensitive girl of Jamaican heritage.
  
  

• Naomi Evans' novel "The Ninth Night" follows Angel, a successful lawyer whose life unravels following a family tragedy. The book explores issues of identity, class, sexism, and multi-racial family dynamics in contemporary England.
  
  

• Faisal Lawal’s novel features Sergeant Bako, the sole law enforcer in a remote Nigerian village, haunted by a forgotten past. The story addresses themes of mental health, abuse, and societal taboos in a rural Nigerian setting.

Janice Okoh, award-winning playwright of ‘Egusi Soup’ and ‘Three Birds’ who has previously won a Channel 4 Playwriting Award in 2017, the Bruntwood Playwriting Prize in 2011 and was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate and Alfred Fagon said:

“Working as a freelance writer for the past twelve years, it has been either feast or famine. As a single mother, I applied for the award to help with childcare so I could find the space to edit my novel. The award came at a time when I had just taken out a bank loan. It was a godsend.”

Symeon Brown from the Black Writers’ Guild who chaired the award alongside the Desmond Elliott Prize-winning poet Derek Owusu and author Ore Agbaje-Williams said: “We are proud that the awardees are from the north and south of England. In such challenging economic times, the award aims to give a financial boost to get a near-complete manuscript over the line ahead of submission. We enjoyed reading the entries and hope to see these manuscripts published.”

Merrie Joy Williams a Manchester-born poet, novelist, and essayist recognised for her poetry and fiction said “receiving the Mary Prince Memorial Award is an honour that validates the years of dedication to my novel 'SO'. This award will support my creative process, allowing me to continue nurturing my unique storytelling approach."

Naomi Evans, author and co-founder of the Everyday Racism project said "I am deeply grateful for the Mary Prince Memorial Award. It is a significant support in completing 'The Ninth Night', enabling me to bring Angel’s story to life and to continue advocating for change in the education system through my writing."

Faisal Lawal said "being a recipient of this award is a profound acknowledgement of the need for stories that confront mental health issues in black literature. It allows me to develop my novel further, focusing on Sergeant Bako's journey and the complexities of life in a Nigerian village."

The award will be open for submissions in January 2024.