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The Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour has revealed its 2024 shortlist, which this year takes readers from a world powered by energy gained from the act of mapping territories to the streets of Hong Kong where a suit maker finds success with a mysterious new fabric.
The winner will receive a prize of £4,500, the runner-up £2,500 and the remaining six shortlisted authors will each receive £850. All shortlisted writers, the runner-up and the winner will also receive mentoring from one of the prize’s publishing partners, which include Bloomsbury Publishing, Daphne Press, Orion Books’ Gollancz, Penguin Random House’s Michael Joseph, Hachette’s SFF imprint Orbit, Hodder’s Hodderscape, and Pan Macmillan’s Tor.
The prize aims to find new talent based in the UK writing in the SFF space, from magical realism and space operas to dystopia and more. It was founded by bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch in 2020, and was previously named the Gollancz and Rivers of London BAME SFF Award. The prize is financially supported by Aaronovitch and "Bridgerton" actor Adjoa Andoh. It is administered by Future Worlds Prize CIC, a not-for-profit organisation.
Zita Abila is shortlisted for The Unbound Atlas, alongside Nelita Aromona’s Blood on Shadowed Blades, Ese Erheriene’s The Suit Sellers of Kowloon, Isha Karki’s Ek Haseena Thi and Inigo Laguda’s The Yawn of the Pond.
Walk in Fire by Ruairidh MacLean is also on the shortlist, joined by Tribe of the Snow Leopards by Farah Maria Rahman and Let None Through by M A Seneviratne.
This year’s prize will be judged by: 2021 Future Worlds Prize winner M H Ayinde; writer and novelist Isabelle Dupuy; quantum physicist turned bestselling author Femi Fadugba; founder of Originate Literary Agency, Natalie Jerome; and Arthur C Clarke Award-winning author Tade Thompson.
The winner of the Future Worlds Prize 2024 will be announced at an event in May. The 2023 winner was Mahmud El Sayed for his novel What the Crew Wants.