Word Factory Apprentice Awards 2023/24: The Winners

In association with the Northern Writer’s Awards/New Writing North, Writing Our Legacy, Galley Beggar Press, Arts Council England and the Society of Authors.

Anne Elicano-Shields
Anne Elicaño-Shields
Lauren Vevers
Lauren Vevers

Short Story Writers Supported

We are delighted to announce the winners of the Word Factory Apprentice Awards 2023/24. Lauren Vevers and Anne Elicaño-Shields were selected from hundreds of applicants for two mentorships, one supporting a northern writer and another a writer whose work demonstrated a strong social/political ethos in memory of our former colleague, the late writer Uschi Gatward.

Our judges were Jessie Greengrass, Cathy Galvin, Paul McVeigh and Amy Zamarripa Solis.

The award has a history of bringing outstanding talent to the attention of the publishing industry, including Claire Adam (Faber), Melissa Fu (Little Brown), Uschi Gatward (Galley Beggar Press), Holly Dawson (Harper Collins), and current award-winning  Word Factory team members Giselle Leeb (Salt) , Emily Devane, Farhana Khalique and Divya Ghelani.

We are deeply grateful to all our mentors: the Word Factory team, plus Catherine Menon, Toby Litt, Paul McVeigh, Carys Davies, Chris Power, Lisa Blower, Leone Ross, Courttia Newland, KJ Orr, Jenn Ashworth, Tom Lee, Nikesh Shukla, Alexei Sayle, Zoe Gilbert, Jarred McGinnis, Adam Marek, Stella Duffy, Alex Preston, Nicholas Royle, Vanessa Gebbie and Professor Ailsa Cox.

Our new winners will be mentored by renowned short story writers and novelists Jessie Greengrass and Jacob Ross.

The awards have offered a template for similar schemes across the country and have actively promoted a range of writers from diverse backgrounds. Winners have all been widely published with mainstream and independent publishers, winning and being shortlisted for national awards.

Our new Apprentice Award winners are:  

Word Factory Northern Apprentice

Lauren Vevers (Story: Washed Up)

Lauren is a writer from Newcastle upon Tyne. Their poetry and prose has been published by 3 of Cups Press, Popshot Magazine, Hobart Pulp and The Real Story. Their script, Danielle & The Devil, reached the top 12% of the BBC Writersroom Open Call. Their debut short film as a writer/director was funded by Film Hub North x BFI Network and screened at festivals internationally.

Jessie Greengrass said:

Lauren’s writing is ambitious and imaginative. Their work is full of strange, strong images as well as characters who are sensitively written, their relationships to one another well-thought through enough to feel very real. I was also impressed with their clear sense of what they want their writing to achieve and I very much look forward to working with them as a mentor.

Lauren said:

I’m so grateful to have been awarded the Word Factory Northern Apprentice Award! It’s a wonderful opportunity to focus on my writing and I’m excited to develop my skills in the craft of short story with access to guidance and mentorship. Thank you New Writing North and Word Factory! 

Word Factory Political Award

Anne Elicaño-Shields (Story : Twenty-Four Answers to the Life in the U.K Citizenship Exam)

Anne Elicaño-Shields is a Filipino writer based in London. She has written a YA Speculative Fiction manuscript and is working on a short story collection. Anne’s stories have found their way to multiple platforms. Her retelling of The Aeneid as a feminist space opera was recorded for The Classical Association podcast. She also did a public reading at the 2022 London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre. Her awards include: 2023 Future Worlds Prize for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers – Finalist; 2022 FAB (Faber and Faber) Prize – Highly Commended, 2022 Creative Future Writers’ Award, and the 2021 London Writers Awards- Literary Fiction.

Paul McVeigh said:

The quality of the entries this year was high and on top of all of those was our winner whose story jumped out at us from first read. Anne managed to tackle the theme without being didactic and we were particularly impressed with the experimental form. A writer to watch. 

Amy Zamarippa Solis said:

Anne’s story about the other class system that exists in the UK, that of subtle and unsubtle racism, was fresh and bravely funny. We had such a strong shortlist but this one caught our eyes with its originality and honest reflection on the Philippine experience.

Anne Elicaño-Shields said:

My writing is inspired by my childhood in the Philippines, where inequalities are rife and stark, and by the years I spent living in the political hotbeds that are Washington DC and London. I look forward to being mentored by Jacob Ross, whom I greatly admire, and to being part of the mighty Word Factory community. I’m honoured to take on a mentorship created in the memory of Uschi Gatward, a wonderful writer.

Cathy Galvin said:

An outstanding year and congratulations to everyone who entered our awards. The future of the short story is secure in the hands of UK writers. I’m looking forward to welcoming and working with two writers of remarkable quality and promise.

Shortlist

Our sifting process was divided between New Writing North, Word Factory team Tom Conaghan and Giselle Leeb and Writing Our Legacy team Akila Richards and Mohammed Rahman.

Word Factory Northern Apprentice Award Shortlist

  • Beth Barker: Things as They Used to Be
  • Barsa Ray: Three
  • Laura Tisdall: Pregnant
  • Megan Jones: Bone Broth
  • Harminder Kaur: Key Worker 

Word Factory Political Award Shortlist

  • Aisha Phoenix: Baggage Allowance
  • Alinah Azadeh: The Beard
  • N.S.Nuseibeh: A Calling
  • Stephen Lunn: All Is Bright

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The Society of Authors

Apprentice Award Alumnae & Mentors

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Private Mentorship

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