Hilary Mantel Prize for Fiction

[SplendiferousKnickers]

Is anyone entering this competition?

It’s being run by literary agents A M Heath, and I have to admit, I’m confused as to what kind of fiction they’re looking for. They ask for the first 15,000 words of a novel in progress, plus synopsis. Regarding the synopsis, they state: “Begin with a brief summary paragraph, followed by the rest of the synopsis.” To me, this sounds like they want something plot driven. But the judging panel – who only get the short-listed entries – consists of 3 authors who write literary fiction, someone representing a publisher who publishes literary fiction (and which the competition is being run in conjunction with), and an actor who was in the stage version of Wolf Hall.

It's free to enter, so I’ll probably give it a go. The closing date is 31st December.

Thanks for posting this - I’d been thinking of entering but then forgot all about it. Usually I get straight on to things like this, but like you I couldn’t work out what they were looking for. Maybe they don’t know. After all, Mantel’s work was pretty varied and she could be very funny, so perhaps they’re deliberately not setting boundaries. What the heck. I’ll just bung mine in and see what happens. It’s not like I have any kind of success track record to break!

It’s not like I have any kind of success track record to break!

Same here. Good luck!

Re the closing date, not to sound daft, but can we submit any time on 31st. I'd like to, but need all the remaining time I can get! Also re synopsis, what exactly does it mean by a summary paragraph?

I did! Although I did it after a wine or two last night so I missed this instruction: “Begin with a brief summary paragraph, followed by the rest of the synopsis.” I just sent a standard synopsis without a summary paragraph.

It sounds like you can send any kind of fiction. Mine is certainly plot-driven.

Anyone else?

Ooh thanks for highlighting this! My novel is definitely literary genre bending, a romance with historical timelines and literary tone, so I might try my luck!