Harmless Like You, the debut novel by UEA student Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, has been shortlisted for this year’s Desmond Elliott Prize for debut novelists, which is worth £10,000 to the winner. Rowan (pictured) was longlisted earlier this year for the the inaugural Jhalak Prize for the Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour, and has recently been shortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award. She is currently completing her PhD in Creative & Critical Writing at UEA, and her short story ‘Before It Disappears’ was recently published in the anthology How Much the Heart Can Hold. The Desmond Elliott Prize was won by UEA alumna Anjali Joseph (MA 2008) in 2011. Among those to have been shortlisted are Adam Foulds (MA 2000) and Joe Dunthorne (MA 2005) in 2008, Edward Hogan (MA 2004) in 2009, DW Wilson (MA 2010) in 2014, Emma Healey (MA 2011) in 2015, and Gavin McCrea (MA 2009) in 2016. This year’s winner will be announced on 21 June.
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan shortlisted for Desmond Elliott Prize
