Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize

The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize
Awarded for	Exceptional first novels
Date	25 July 2024
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	Waterstones
First award	2022;3 years ago (2022)
Website	www.waterstones.com/category/cultural-highlights/book-awards/the-waterstones-debut-fiction-prize

The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, established in 2022, ^[1] is an annual literary award presented by British bookseller Waterstones to the best debut fiction published in the previous 12 months. The award is intended to "celebrate[] the very best fresh voices in fiction and share[] the joy and magic of discovering new authors." ^[1] Fictional books of all genres are considered, "including genre fiction such as crime, sci-fi and fantasy as well as fiction in translation." ^{[2] [3]}

Award winners receive £ 5,000 ^[3] and "the backing of all Waterstones shops." ^[2]

Recipients

Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize winners and finalists

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
2022	Tess Gunty	The Rabbit Hutch	Winner	[4]
	Bonnie Garmus	Lessons in Chemistry	Shortlist	[5] [6] [7]
	Louise Kennedy	Trespasses
	Sequoia Nagamatsu	How High We Go in the Dark
	Eloghosa Osunde	Vagabonds!
	Tara M. Stringfellow	Memphis
2023	Alice Winn	In Memoriam	Winner	[8]
	Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah	Chain-Gang All-Stars	Shortlist	[9]
	Jacqueline Crooks	Fire Rush
	Michael Magee	Close to Home
	Cecile Pin	Wandering Souls
	Colin Walsh	Kala
2024	Ferdia Lennon	Glorious Exploits	Winner	[10] [11]
	Kaveh Akbar	Martyr!	Shortlist	[12] [13] [14]
	Kaliane Bradley	The Ministry of Time
	Josie Ferguson	The Silence in Between
	Hanako Footman	Mongrel
	Rebecca K Reilly	Greta and Valdin
2025	Catherine Airey	Confessions	Shortlist	[15]
	William Rayfet Hunter	Sunstruck
	Gurnaik Johal	Saraswati
	Niamh Ni Mhaoilcoin	Ordinary Saints
	Lisa Ridzén	When The Cranes Fly South
	Lucy Steeds	The Artist

References

1. Orhanen, Anna (21 July 2022). "Why Debuts Matter: Bea Carvalho on the Ethos Behind the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize". Waterstones. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
2. Bayley, Sian (4 April 2022). "Waterstones launches £5,000 debut fiction prize". The Bookseller. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
3. "Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize". Locus Online. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
4. Zodgekar, Yash; Niva, Yadav (25 August 2022). "Tess Gunty's 'fiercely original' The Rabbit Hutch wins inaugural Waterstones debut fiction prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
5. "Awards: Waterstones Debut Fiction Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
6. Doyle, Martin (21 July 2022). "Louise Kennedy on Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize shortlist; Margaret Atwood at Clifden festival". The Irish Times. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
7. Shaffi, Sarah (20 July 2022). "Shortlist announced for Waterstones debut fiction prize". the Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
8. "Alice Winn wins 2023 Waterstones debut fiction prize for In Memoriam". The Guardian. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
9. "Waterstones debut fiction prize shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 17 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
10. "The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize Winner 2024". Waterstones. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
11. Skyring, Sophie (3 August 2024). "Norwich's Ferdia Lennon wins Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize". Norwich Evening News. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
12. Cooper-Fiske, Casey (18 June 2024). "'Eye-opening' time travel story shortlisted for debut fiction prize". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
13. Waterstones (10 June 2024). Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024 Shortlist . Retrieved 19 June 2024– via YouTube.
14. "'Eye-opening' time travel story shortlisted for debut fiction prize". www.corklive.ie. 18 June 2024. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
15. Creamer, Ella (18 June 2025). "Waterstone debut fiction prize 2025 shortlist announced". Guardian. Retrieved 11 August 2025.