The Creative Future Writers’ Award has announced its 2026 winners following a record-breaking field of more than 1,850 entries from underrepresented writers across the UK. The annual award recognised writers across three categories, Creative Non-Fiction, Fiction and Poetry, with five writers receiving Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze or Highly Commended honours in each category. Maika Carrillo won Platinum for Creative Non-Fiction with Pagpag, Debbie Hudson took the top fiction prize for How to Dig a Warren, and Alison Tanik received the Poetry Platinum for Achilles leaves me in Norwood Junction.

The winning selection also highlights a broad range of literary concerns and forms. Rebecca Faithful’s Pompey Potholes & Sanatorium Chic: Directions Through Material Impermanence took Gold in Creative Non-Fiction, while Aisha Okorie’s Blackwashed and Abhishek Parasrampuria’s The Evidence Room received Silver and Gold respectively in Fiction. In Poetry, J.J. Carey’s only natural was awarded Gold, while Duranka Perera’s The Forgotten Practical Considerations of Being Bombed and Invaded by a Pseudo-Colonial Power received Silver. The judging panel included poet Nancy Campbell, writer and playwright Courttia Newland, journalist and editor Kieran Yates, and representatives from Curtis Brown Creative, Faber Academy and The Literary Consultancy.

Beyond the prizes themselves, this year’s award will provide £25,000 worth of courses, professional development and support to help the selected writers advance their careers. The winning works, alongside contributions from the judges and Creative Future Writers in Residence, appear in the Material 2026 anthology. The winners will also be celebrated at an event at London’s Southbank Centre on October 30 as part of the London Literature Festival, with an online livestream available for audiences unable to attend in person. Creative Future says its 2027 Writers’ Award will open in mid-January.

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