The 2025 Discoveries shortlisted writers are here!
Each has worked hard on their novel-in-progress, dazzling the judges with their characterisation, creativity and storytelling. The six shortlistees are:
- Muti’ah Badruddeen, A Bowl of River Water
- Sophie Black, The Pass
- Shaiyra Devi, The Persistence of Gravity
- Jac Felipez, A Long Ways from Home
- Rosie Rowell, Down by the Stryth
- Lauren Van Schaik, Seven Sweet Nothings
Let’s find out more about each of them!
How does it feel to be shortlisted for Discoveries 2025?
Breathless. I mean that literally. I screamed so much, I became breathless. I have a weak heart, and I don’t think it has stopped racing since I opened the email. I’m usually more on the self contained end of expression but Discoveries has unleashed the inner screamer I never knew.
When did you begin writing?
My teenage years were filled with academic essay writing competitions and bad handwritten stories in lined notebooks. My first book, a novella was published in Nigeria in 2003, followed by a non-fiction / self-help book in 2010. However I did not consider myself a writer until after my self-published debut novel Rekiya & Z was released in 2020.
What initially inspired your novel-in-progress?
I started A Bowl of River Water wanting to write about my grandmother’s life. She was an incredible woman and during the pandemic, I had the idea to share her story. But the more I wrote, the bigger it got away from the details of her life; coming to encompass, instead, the idea of women who, despite dominant narratives about the period and cultural context, fought in their own way to subvert societal norms that infringed on their autonomy and personhood.
Are there any locations that have a special connection for you, or your novel-in-progress?
I currently live in the South of England, not too far from Cornwall, and I often find myself fascinated by the weight of history of the area. It is similar to the feeling I had when I returned for research purposes last year to my father’s hometown in Nigeria, upon which the fictional village that is the setting of most of my novel is based. Maybe it is the bodies of water in both places, and the historical myths and legends attached to them.
How does it feel to be shortlisted for Discoveries 2025?
I feel very lucky to be shortlisted in the company of such amazing writers. I doubt it’ll sink in for a long time. Sharing this news with my friends and family has been the best part.
What initially inspired your novel-in-progress?
There are so many great stories and storytellers amongst service workers. I thought about The Pass a lot over several years, but didn’t realise until recently that it was taking shape as one story.
What is the thing you are most excited about as you continue through the Discoveries process?
For me, the most enjoyable thing about writing is that it can start a conversation – I’ll never forget the first time a friend told me they’d been thinking about something I wrote. Continuing through the Discoveries process presents an opportunity for me to find new connections and new perspectives, which I think is the biggest possible reward for putting an idea on paper.
What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received?
To not get bogged down in details and research when you really need to just write – you can look at specifics when you’re editing. It worked like a charm because I’m not even 100% decided on my characters’ names – I only know how they feel and how they’d behave. The opposite advice applies to non-fiction essays – reference as you go, or suffer.
How does it feel to be shortlisted for Discoveries 2025?
I’m beyond ecstatic, totally over the moon! This such an honour and surprise, I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity and for the validation. It’s already been a huge encouragement and I can’t wait to continue writing with the support of the Discoveries community.
When did you begin writing?
I began writing fiction as soon I learned to write, filling a notepad with 1-page stories from the age of 5. At 10, I promised myself I’d write a book, and finished Diamonds & Daggers, an adventure fantasy novel, before 13. After that, I began to write poetry and short stories, which helped me find my ‘voice’. The seed for my current novel sprouted in a fiction writing workshop in my final year of college, and it has consumed me ever since.
What initially inspired your novel-in-progress?
Most of all, the original inspiration was the sense of loneliness and longing that we can experience when we are far from home. How, when we are most effortfully straining towards the futures we think we most want, we can somehow find ourselves being pulled back. Back toward ‘home’ – the people and places that make us – that live just below the surface, waiting to be acknowledged. And how much we can learn when we finally do.
Which female author(s) inspires you to write, or has shaped you most as a writer?
Arundhati Roy is a great inspiration for me. Sitting in America, feeling far from home, and reading God of Small Things – I was transported. Her descriptions are poetry, her story compelling, but most of all, I was blown away by her ability to capture a culture, a sensibility, a national sense of humour. Through beautiful English, she communicates an Indian speech and cadence, a way of looking at the world, effortlessly. I can only aspire to write with the same feminine sensitivity, wit, and poetry that she does.
How does it feel to be shortlisted for Discoveries 2025?
I was thrilled to be selected for the Discoveries shortlist, and felt very proud and exhilarated. Each stage of this process, from submitting my novel-in-progress to reaching the shortlist stage, has boosted my confidence and dented my self-doubt. My place on the shortlist has helped affirm for me that my author voice and my story have value.
When did you begin writing?
I have been writing, in different ways, my whole life. From the first story my English teacher praised in front of the class to the novel-in progress I am working on four decades later. Between these milestones, I’ve crafted documentary narration, written screenplay ideas and story treatments. I began writing fiction three years ago after revisiting the testimonies and experiences of past documentary interviewees and finding a wealth of stories that I wanted to tell.
Are there any locations that have a special connections for you or your novel-in-progress?
I’ve lived in London my whole life. I was born in South East London, but work and friendships took me across the river to the North and the East for a number of years. My novel-in-progress is set across those areas that shaped my early adulthood – Dalston, Tottenham and Finsbury Park. Areas with histories of migration, struggle, art and literature, as well as the cultural and political activism of the 1980s that provides a dynamic background for storytelling.
What initially inspired your novel-in-progress?
The inspiration for my current novel-in-progress came from visiting the Lubaina Himid retrospective at Tate Modern in 2022. I was particularly interested in her early works from the era of the Black Arts Movement. The exhibition prompted me to revisit non-fiction books about the 1980s, a decade characterised by uprisings, radical activism, and vibrant artistic expression. It was these elements that motivated me to begin writing a contemporary story that connected to this dynamic period in British history.
How does it feel to be shortlisted for Discoveries 2025?
I’m still in a bit of shock. When the longlist came out, I was so surprised to be included that imagining anything beyond that felt impossible. I don’t think any of it will sink in for a long time. I’m so endlessly grateful to the Women’s Prize Trust and Curtis Brown Creative.
When did you begin writing?
I fell in love with writing from the moment I learned how to read. However, I struggled with it when suffering from poor mental health in my twenties, and have had to work hard to rediscover the joy in it. I’m very grateful to have found it again. I wrote my first full length novel by the time I was sixteen, though it will never see the light of day because it is seriously terrible.
What initially inspired your novel-in-progress? Are there any locations that have a special connections for you or your novel-in-progress?
I got the idea for this novel when I came across a TikTok (doomscrolling finally pays off!) about a section of the Yorkshire River Wharfe known as the Bolton Strid, which is famous for being the deadliest stretch of water in the world and has been the scene of several fatalities. The name ‘Strid’ comes from the Old English word ‘Stryth’, which means ‘turmoil’. Ultimately, I used this setting to write a story which explores family, generational trauma, and womanhood.
Which female author(s) inspires you to write, or has shaped you most as a writer?
Too many to count. The obvious: Margaret Atwood, Doris Lessing, Mary Shelley, the Brontës and Austen. My biggest love is for books which explore the difficulties of womanhood, particularly in the horror genre. Recent joy has come from Lucy Rose’s The Lamb, Emma van Straaten’s This Immaculate Body, and Monika Kim’s The Eyes Are the Best Part.
How does it feel to be shortlisted for Discoveries 2025?
It’s incredible, heartening news. I feel really honoured that the judges see the promise in this project. I’ve had so much fun writing it and can’t wait to share it even more widely.
When did you begin writing?
I’ve always written — before I could hold a pen I tyrannically dictated stories to my parents — but have only done so in a serious way since my late 20s. I focused on short stories first. I’m American and there’s an idea there that you apprentice yourself with short fiction before tackling novels. Short stories taught me how to construct scenes, plot, craft characters, how to re-write something a dozen times, and how to ruthlessly scrap ideas that don’t work.
Are there any locations that have a special connection for you or your novel-in-progress?
I’ve lived in London for 13 years, so long that my accent has been sanded down and I’m afraid of driving. But this novel is rooted in the U.S. landscapes of my childhood vacations: seedy highway rests tops, dirty motels, and the synthetic paradises of amusement parks. It alternates between swampy, alligator-infested Florida and to the empty, eerie prairies of South Dakota.
What initially inspired your novel-in-progress?
Seven Sweet Nothings was inspired by the absurd true story of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs taking his favourite wives to Disney, Mardi Gras, and strip clubs while he was a federal fugitive. What happens when sheltered wives are removed from the compound and dropped into our world — or rather, the sanitised, perpetually happy theme park pastiche of it? It’s been a fun challenge to describe the familiar through the eyes of these brainwashed Martians, then let the indoctrination slip.
