Novels by two UEA alumni have been shortlisted for the McKitterick Prize for a first novel by a writer over 40. Taymour Soomro (pictured), who graduated from the MA in Creative Writing (Prose Fiction) in 2016 and the PhD in Creative and Critical Writing in 2021, is nominated for Other Names for Love. Ayanna Lloyd Banwo, who graduated from the MA in Creative Writing (Prose Fiction) in 2018 and is currently completing her PhD in Creative and Critical Writing, is nominated for When We Were Birds. The McKitterick Prize will be announced on 29 June at The Society of Authors’ Awards and Summer Party 2023, which will be livestreamed. Taymour’s short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and the Southern Review, and was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and the Glimmer Train Prize. Ayanna’s novel recently won the Fiction and Overall categories at the 2023 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, the Author’s Club Award Best First Novel Award, and is currently shortlisted for a Kitschies award.
Taymour Soomro and Ayanna Lloyd Banwo shortlisted for McKitterick Prize
