2023 Longlist

We’re delighted to unveil the longlist for the 2023 Prize. The standard of entries was incredibly high, and we want to thank everyone who submitted a story. If you weren’t successful this year, please do try again next year.

The shortlist will be announced on 26th September and the winner in October at a prize ceremony in London.

Congratulations to all the longlisted writers!

Rosie Chen, MICROMANAGERESS 

Micromanageress is about the relationship between two young Asian women who work together.  

Rosie Chen lives and works in London. Her short stories have been published in The Mays Anthology (The Dead Dog) and Desperate Literature’s Eleven Stories collection (The Author Living). Her short story We Were Just Kids Ourselves was highly commended in the Bournemouth Writing Prize. She is currently working on her first novel, a draft of which was a finalist in Hachette UK’s Mo Siewcharran Prize and longlisted for the Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize.  

Follow Rosie on Twitter and Instagram @rosiechenwriter  

Melissa Gitari, MY LAST REAL HOUSEWIFE 

My Last Real Housewife explores the breakdown of a toxic friendship between two impossibly wealthy women. 

Melissa Gitari worked in children’s publishing for four years before deciding to embark on a new career path. She is yet to discover what that career is but she is thoroughly enjoying the break from commuting. When she’s not fantasising about winning the lottery and moving to Bali, Melissa loves going on long walks, writing sad poems and watching alarming amounts of reality television.  

Follow Melissa on Twitter @mellie_gee and Instagram @melissergh 

Stephenjohn Holgate, THE SKULL OF AN UNNAMED AFRICAN BOY 

Two young first generation immigrants grapple with their identity in Britain, and an artefact in a museum carries a historical significance that they are unable to view dispassionately. 

Stephenjohn Holgate was born in Port Antonio, Jamaica and moved to London when he was eight. After reading English at Oxford University he worked as an actor for number of years, spending much of that time working in youth theatre developing and directing original writing. He is a member of Writing West Midlands writer development program and is a 2023 Pen/Dau prize winner for his short story Delroy and the Boys. He is a also a member of the HarperCollins UK Author Academy 2023. Stephenjohn spends his time reading, writing, teaching and playing capoeira. 

Follow Stephenjohn on Twitter and Instagram @mistaholgate 

Benjamin Toma James, THE MAN WHO CRIED AT THE SKY 

A Japanese man who hires himself out as a passive companion finds his professional detachment disturbed when serving his first Western client.  

Benjamin Toma James is a prospective PhD candidate in philosophy. His literary work tends to explore questions of alienation and personal responsibility in the modern world. He has a BA and MA in philosophy from King’s College London and KU Leuven respectively, and he is currently working on a literary novel that aims to push the boundaries of time and self-reflection.  

Akin Makanjuola, THE LOCK-IN 

In The Lock-In, a troubled man finds himself trapped alongside a group of peculiar characters, all seemingly stuck in a perpetual cycle of drinking and despair, as they confront their pasts and grapple with their fate. 

Akin is a British author, currently working on his debut novel. He was born in Wales in 1982 and has lived in Swansea, Manchester, London, and Ilesa, Nigeria. He has a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature & Language from the University of Manchester, and lives in Lincolnshire with his wife and two daughters. He works in London.  

Follow Akin on Twitter @Akin_Mak2022   

Muhammad Manji, WASHED ASHORE 

Washed Ashore is about the fateful journey of a traveller by sea and the power of nature versus our own stories. 

Muhammad Manji is a mathematician and junior researcher at the University of Warwick with interests in logic and philosophy. He grew up in Watford before living in Cambridge and Warwick, although he has family spread across Canada, East Africa and the Indian subcontinent. He is currently working on a collection of short stories looking at agency, desire and nature in the migrant experience in colonial East Africa.  

Liberty Martin, BLEACH 

In Kansas, 1965, a Black woman recounts her experience entering a white beauty pageant where not everyone is who they seem to be. 

Liberty Martin (she/her) is a writer, cultural worker and podcaster whose work focuses on cultural production across the African diaspora. She co-hosts a podcast, Lose Your Sister, which analyses media through a Black feminist lens. She has previously worked with the Harvard Review, Small Axe, the Economist Educational Foundation, the Financial Times, the Black Cultural Archives, and the Barnard College Digital Humanities Center, amongst other publications and organisations. 

Follow Liberty on Twitter @libertyamartin and Instagram @taking_the_liberty 

Esther Okorocha, BACK OF HOUSE 

Set in a near-future dystopian Britain, an acclaimed journalist sets up an interview with the notoriously secretive head chef of the Kensington Mating Clinic and ends up booking a stay. 
 
Esther Okorocha is an emerging (screen) writer based in South London. She holds a BA (Hons) in English and Related Literature from the University of York and is currently a Scripted Development Intern at NBCUniversal.  

Follow Esther on Twitter @_estherokorocha  

Faye Oliver, MARKET DAY 

In Market Day, Vea is running through a market full of memories while onlookers watch on in grief. 

Faye Oliver is a flight attendant and writer living in East London. Her most precious hobby is reading. Sleeping is a close second. Her writing is often influenced by childhood memories and how mental health impacts our day to day lives. She has performed spoken word poetry at various venues in the past, including UCL, Arts Depot and The Coronet. 

Weng-U Pun, PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG LADY 

In Portrait of a Young Lady, a young woman receives an enquiring text from her mother but struggles to find the words to tell her how she really feels. 

Weng-U (pronounced Wing-You) Pun is a writer from Macau who has found a home in Manchester during her time there as a university student. She is the founder of Wrice, a creative writing project for East and Southeast Asians.  

Weng-U is currently shortlisted for the Poets of Colour Incubator programme and has poetry published by the Rainbow Library project, Polyphony, the Mancunion, Culture Liverpool and Lemon Peel Press. She tends to type about love, youth and cyberpunk worlds. She loves going to rock gigs, crocheting and thrifting gems in charity shops. 

Get in touch with Weng-U via wenguwrites@gmail.com 

Thảo Tô, IT ONLY TAKES A BOX OF MOONCAKES 

Three years after her mother’s death, Uyên faces an unexpected announcement from her father who lives half a world away—that he’s moving on.   

Thảo Tô is a writer on the move. She likes learning languages, dislikes flights, and loves a good walk anywhere. Her short stories can be found in Sine Theta Magazine, diaCRITICS, and elsewhere.  

Follow Thảo on Twitter @thao__to 

Tian Yi, THE GOOD SON 

In The Good Son, a young man reflects on a small town childhood interrupted by strange occurrences, and a friendship he never fully understood. 

Tian Yi lives in London. Her writing has appeared in CRAFT, The Daily Drunk, Fractured Lit, and elsewhere, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London, where she was awarded a Sophie Warne Fellowship. She has also received a Hedgebrook residency and the Octavia Butler Memorial Scholarship for Speculative Fiction from the Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference, and she is part of the London Library Emerging Writers Programme in 2023/24. 

Tian currently co-hosts ESEA Archives, an online book club run in partnership with Hackney Chinese Community Services, celebrating the work of East and Southeast Asian authors. She is working on a short story collection about families and hauntings. 

Follow Tian on Twitter @tianyiwriting and Instagram @tnyzhng 

Don’t forget to join the conversation online @4thestatebooks using the hashtag #4thWritePrize.

The 2023 Judges