Anna Dempsey Awarded Inaugural Hilary Mantel Prize for Fiction
Anna Dempsey has been declared the winner of the first-ever Hilary Mantel prize for fiction, securing a £7,500 award for her unpublished novel This Is About an Alligator and Nothing Else. The prize, established to honour the legacy of the late Booker prize-winning author Hilary Mantel, aims to support unpublished and un-agented writers across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Details of the Winning Novel and Runner-Up
Dempsey's winning work is a coming-of-age story set on the fringe of the Florida Everglades, where a small town grapples with a water contamination crisis linked to corporate negligence. Following her father's sudden death, officially attributed to a heart attack, the young protagonist becomes increasingly convinced that the company is to blame. Dempsey, a Florida-born writer and teacher now residing in London, was chosen from a pool of 2,300 submissions.
Uduak-Abasi Ekong, a Manchester-based Nigerian writer, was named the runner-up for her novel A Kind of Resurrection, receiving £2,500. Her work is a psychological horror piece that draws on West African folklore, blending supernatural elements with emotional trauma.
Prize Structure and Mentorship Opportunities
Launched after Mantel's death in 2022 and supported by her longtime agency, AM Heath, the prize offers more than just financial rewards. Both Dempsey and Ekong will benefit from mentoring sessions with an agent at AM Heath and an editor at John Murray. Additionally, Dempsey has been granted a place on an Arvon Foundation residential writing course, while Ekong will attend an Arvon masterclass.
Bill Hamilton, Mantel's agent, commended the diversity of the submissions, which were reviewed by a team from AM Heath and John Murray. He noted, "The closer we got to a manageable number to recommend to the judges, the bigger the contrasts in the imagination and style and voices of the writers. Settings from all around the world, everything from satire to the supernatural, from contemporary to ancient myth."
Judging Panel and Tributes to Hilary Mantel
The judging panel was led by bestselling author Maggie O'Farrell and included Mantel's longtime editor Nicholas Pearson; actor Ben Miles, who portrayed Thomas Cromwell in the RSC adaptations of Mantel's Wolf Hall series; and novelists Chetna Maroo and Chigozie Obioma.
Nicholas Pearson remarked, "Throughout her career, Hilary Mantel cared deeply for novelists making their first steps, and I feel sure she would have wanted to support these two exceptional writers." Dempsey expressed her honour at winning, stating, "Winning the inaugural Hilary Mantel prize is an enormous honour. I find it significant that this award celebrates Mantel's legacy and that my novel, in its own way, is a tribute to my dad." She began writing the book shortly after her father's sudden death in 2020.
Future of the Prize and Submission Guidelines
The Hilary Mantel prize is open biennially to unpublished and un-agented writers in the UK and Ireland, requiring a submission of a 15,000-word extract. This initiative continues Mantel's commitment to nurturing emerging literary talent, providing crucial support and recognition in the competitive publishing landscape.
