Welcome to the Guardian and 4th Estate 4thWrite Prize, a competition open to writers of colour living in the UK or Ireland who are 18 and above.
We want to read your story, whatever it may be.
It is a very special year of the prize as 2026 is officially marks our 10th anniversary! Over the last decade, we have been overwhelmed by the quality of the stories we have found and the impact the prize has had. Last year’s winner was Piyumi Kapugeekiyana with her story, The Original Is Not Here – you can read her story here.
We have had some extremely exciting writers longlisted and shortlisted for the prize who have gone on to have their work published, including the likes of Bolu Babalola, author Love in Colour and Honey & Spice published by Headline, Guy Gunaratne, author of In Our Mad and Furious City published by Tinder Press, Kasim Ali, author of Good Intentions published by 4th Estate, Gurnaik Johal, author of We Move published by Serpent’s Tail (who joins us as a judge this year!) and Kit Fan, author of Diamond Hill published by Dialogue – plus many more.
Previous winners of the prize include Yan F. Zhang for her story, Fleeting Marrow in 2024, and Yian Yi for her story, The Good Son in 2023.
We are incredibly proud of the prize here at 4th Estate and it is our hope that it continues to open new opportunities for writers of colour. The winner will receive £1,000, a one-day publishing workshop at 4th Estate and publication of their story on the Guardian website. After the winner is announced, the full shortlist will be published on 4thestate.co.uk.
Our judges this year are: Kamila Shamsie, multiple award-winning and bestselling author; Chanté Joseph, award-winning writer, journalist and digital content producer; Sanam Mahloudji, Women’s Prize-shortlisted author; Emma Paterson, literary agent at Aitken Alexander Associates; Kishani Widyaratna, Publishing Director at 4th Estate; and Ella Creamer, Commissioning Editor at The Guardian.
We are especially thrilled to announce a special guest judge for this year as we celebrate the Prize’s 10th anniversary: author and 4thWrite Prize alum Gurnaik Johal. Gurnaik was shortlisted for the Prize in 2018 and has gone on to publish two books with Serpent’s Tail.
The deadline for submissions this year is 19 June, the longlist will be announced by 31 August, the shortlist by 30 September, and the winner in October (date tbc) at a prize ceremony in London.
Submission can be made via the form below.
Please ensure you read all of the terms and conditions (view here) before submitting, but if you have any questions then simply email 4thWritePrize@harpercollins.co.uk and someone will get back to you.
We can’t wait to read your story!