Looking for New Voices

The Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation is seeking submissions for the 2026 New Voices Award, a development programme designed to support aspiring writers working an adventure novel.

Each year, five unpublished and unrepresented writers are selected to take part in a one-to-one mentoring and editorial development programme. Over the course of nine months, writers receive guidance from an experienced editor to help shape their idea and develop it into a completed first draft.

Writers follow a structured timeline with regular submission points, receiving detailed editorial feedback and online mentoring sessions to discuss progress, challenges and craft. Writers also receive feedback on their finished manuscript from a publisher and receive advice from a literary agent to learn more about the querying process.

The award is open to unpublished and unrepresented writers anywhere in the world who are developing a work of adult narrative fiction set in the real world, whether contemporary or historical. We are looking for distinctive, transportive stories that take readers on a compelling journey.

To apply, writers must submit:

• The opening three chapters of their novel (up to 10,000 words)
• A plot outline of up to 1,000 words describing where they imagine their story may go

The New Voices Award is about potential rather than polish – we’re looking for fledgling ideas and understand that your submission will be in the early stages of writing. We particularly encourage submissions from writers whose voices are underrepresented in publishing.

Deadline: 30th April 2026

Find out more and apply: https://www.wilbur-niso-smithfoundation.org/prize/new-voices