The Montegrappa Writing Prize 2016 is now closed.
The top 5 participants will be able to discuss their work with Luigi Bonomi at Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2016. The overall winner will also receive an Emirates return flight to London to enjoy the London Book Fair, 11-17 April 2016.
The Montegrappa Writing Prize, launched by Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in 2013 with Montegrappa and Luigi Bonomi Associates, is a Prize aimed exclusively at UAE residents who have never had a novel published. All entries are read by Luigi Bonomi Associates and the winner receives a trip to London Book Fair and lunch with Bonomi.
While the Prize does not guarantee a book deal, the results speak for themselves. 2013 Prize winner Annabel Kantaria secured a three-book deal with Harlequin and her winning novel Coming Home was published in May 2015. 2013 runner-up Rachel Hamilton received a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster. Her debut children’s book The Case of the Exploding Loo earned rave reviews as did the sequel, The Case of the Exploding Brains. In early 2015, Chicken House acquired the rights to 2014 runner-up Lucinda Martin’s Moth and the Nightingale, for publication in 2016.
The 2015 Prize was won by Claudine Pabst, whose young adult fantasy manuscript The Reluctant Thief follows teenager Mara Bloom as she discovers a hidden world and new powers that can help save its people. Kim Adams was first runner-up for her contemporary novel, The 9 Lives of Catherine Lewis, and second runner-up for 2015 was Steven Bainbridge for his Japan and Korea-set mystery story, Comfort Men.
Previous winners of the Prize are available here
Luigi Bonomi is a literary agent who has launched the careers of many bestselling authors. He is the founder of Luigi Bonomi Associates (LBA), which represents a variety of authors, journalists and writers, including John Humphrys, Esther Rantzen and Alan Titchmarsh. In addition to his day job, he is Honorary Professor of Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University and Literary Consultant for the Sunday Times Oxford University Literary Festival. In 2010 he won the Bookseller Industry Award for Literary Agent of the Year.
Winners will be announced only at the prize-giving ceremony held during the Festival. All participants are required to attend the event.