Nero New Writers Prize opens submissions

The Nero New Writers Prize has opened submissions for its 2026 edition, with organizers inviting unpublished writers in the UK and Ireland to enter a short story or narrative nonfiction piece. The prize is run by the Nero Book Awards in association with Brunel University of London, according to the awards website and Brunel’s announcement. The winner will receive £3,000, a scholarship to study for an MA in Creative Writing at Brunel, and an introductory meeting with a literary agent facilitated by the university. Entries are due by September 11, 2026. ### Who can enter, and what do organizers want? The official submissions page says the prize is aimed at “unpublished and aspiring writers” and is designed to identify emerging talent. Organizers are asking for a previously unpublished short story or a piece of narrative nonfiction of up to 5,000 words. The work can be written for either children or adult readers, and it must be a self-contained piece. (nerobookawards.com) Brunel University said the 2026 search is for “the UK and Ireland’s most promising unpublished writers,” while Brittle Paper described it as a chance for emerging African writers based in, or living in, the UK and Ireland. The official prize materials frame the competition more broadly around unpublished writers in the UK and Ireland. (nerobookawards.com) ### What exactly does the winner get? The awards website lists three main benefits for the winner: a £3,000 cash prize, a scholarship for Brunel’s MA in Creative Writing, and an introductory meeting with a literary agent. Brunel’s announcement repeats those terms and says the agent meeting will be facilitated by the university. Brittle Paper highlighted the same package in its August 5 report on the opening. (brittlepaper.com) That combination of cash, postgraduate study support and agent access is central to how organizers are presenting the award. ### Who is judging the 2026 prize? (nerobookawards.com) Book industry coverage and the official prize material say the 2026 judging panel includes novelist Paul Murray, novelist and critic Helen Cullen, and Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo. Murray won the 2023 Nero Gold Prize for “The Bee Sting,” according to coverage cited in writers’ trade reports. (brittlepaper.com) The Nero Book Awards site says the new writers prize runs alongside the main Nero Book Awards program, which honors books by authors living in the UK and Ireland. The new writers strand is focused on unpublished work rather than already published books. ### Is there anything new in 2026 besides the main prize? Brunel University said a separate Brunel Prize is being introduced for students currently studying at Brunel or who graduated from the university within the last two years. (firstwriter.com) Organizers say one entry form will be used for both awards, with eligible Brunel entrants identifying their status in the submissions process. (nerobookawards.com) The terms and conditions page says students who graduated from Brunel before July 24, 2024, are eligible instead for the Nero New Writers Prize. That creates a parallel route this year: one competition for the wider unpublished field and one for recent Brunel students and graduates. ### What happened in the first year of the prize? (brunel.ac.uk) Brunel University said the inaugural 2025 winner was Erwin Joyce Canlubo, then 19, for the fiction piece “We Don’t Say I Love You in This House.” The university described the 2026 edition as the prize’s second year after what it called a successful launch in 2025. The official timeline for this year is already set out in the prize documents. (nerobookawards.com) A shortlist of five writers is due on October 22, 2026, and the overall winner is scheduled to be announced at a ceremony at Brunel on November 18, 2026. Entries are being accepted through the Nero Book Awards submissions page and the associated terms and conditions posted by the organizers. (brunel.ac.uk)