The First Novel Prize was established to recognise and support emerging novelists, offering them visibility, encouragement and a platform to take the next step in their writing careers. Each year, unpublished and independently published writers from around the English-language world submit their manuscripts and our judges select the most compelling, original and memorable works of fiction.
We are delighted to announce the winners of the First Novel Prize 2025. This year’s entries displayed extraordinary ambition and storytelling craft, making the judges’ task both inspiring and challenging. After careful deliberation, our judges, Imogen Nelson, Senior Commissioning Editor at Transworld/Penguin Random House, and Rachel Neely, Literary Agent at Mushens Entertainment, selected the following winners:
First Prize and £1,000
Two-Niner by Jason McIntyre
Two-Niner is the kind of novel that immediately grips you by the throat and refuses to let go! Set in a dystopian environment, Jason handled the world-building deftly; the details of this foreign environment were skilfully woven throughout the text, never interrupting the gripping plot and pacing. Jason is a fantastic writer and a very worthy winner!
— Imogen Nelson and Rachel Neely
Writers likely agree that our craft can be a solitary experience. I liken it to fumbling around alone in a vast, dark room, desperate for a breaker panel, a light switch, a match, anything. Suddenly hearing news that I have won the First Novel Prize is a bit like having someone else reach in to my black space and flick on one bright bulb. It feels like a spotlight has been aimed at my collection of words and ideas and now others have begun to connect with my novel. Maybe there is light after all. Thank you, First Novel Prize!
— Jason McIntyre
Shortlist Prize and £500
God and the Blues by Moyette Gibbons
God and the Blues is beautifully written, with intriguing protagonists, who immediately drew us into the story. Both Glory and Honour had clear, arresting and entirely distinct voices. Moyette’s talent is matched by ambitious storytelling, and she tackles her big themes with sensitivity and skill.
— Imogen Nelson and Rachel Neely
I would like to say a huge thank you to The Literary Studio and the judges of the First Novel Prize, Imogen Nelson and Rachel Neely, for awarding my novel, God and the Blues, the Shortlist Prize for 2025. I am delighted to have won the prize and to have received such wonderful and encouraging feedback from the judges. Honour and her mother, Glory, have lived inside my head for such a long time. I hope the recognition this award brings means that I am a step closer to God and the Blues reaching a wider audience.
— Moyette Gibbons
Congratulations to Jason and Moyette, and a heartfelt thank you to all entrants for sharing their work with us. The First Novel Prize continues to be a celebration of new voices in fiction and we are proud to support writers as they take their first or next steps towards wider recognition.