Fern Academy Prize

Fern Press and How To Academy, in association with Tortoise, are delighted to announce that Gabriela Denise Frank has won the inaugural Fern Academy Prize with her essay, ‘A Self She Can Continue Living With’.

Frank’s essay is one of 140 entries the prize received and one of four that were shortlisted by the prize judges Margaret Busby (Chair), Mark O’Connell, Laurence Laluyaux and Keith Blackmore.

The other shortlisted writers are:
‘Bury Me Standing Up’ by Hannah Sargeant
‘Sunana/My Name Is’ by Zahrah Nesbitt-Ahmed
‘Close to the World of Other People’ by Georgia Wall

As part of her prize, Frank wins:

£3,000 cash prize;
publication with Tortoise;
literary representation by RCW literary agent Laurence Laluyaux;
a five-night writing course* run by How To Academy’s sister company, Unmissable Courses;
an appearance on How To Academy’s biweekly podcast; and
mentorship from a Penguin Random House UK editor.

Gabriela Denise Frank is an American literary artist, editor and educator. Her work has appeared in BOMB Magazine, Channel, Northwest Review, Bayou, The Rumpus and elsewhere. An advocate for public art and working artists, Gabriela serves as an arts commissioner for the City of Burien, a youth mentor in creative non-fiction and as creative non-fiction editor of Crab Creek Review.

Michal Shavit, Publishing Director at Fern Press, says: ‘The Fern Academy Prize was set up to find and nurture unpublished and unagented authors from around the world and to celebrate essay writing, in all its forms. The winning essay by Gabriela beautifully captures the spirit of the prize in its ability to speak to our times and to bend and challenge our expectations of form. It is the work of a very gifted and natural writer.’

Of the prize, Chair of Judges Margaret Busby says: ‘It has been exciting to discover new writing that dares to challenge our preconceptions about form, and a real privilege to have shared with my fellow judges the experience of choosing our standout winner: Gabriela Denise Frank’s ‘A Self She Can Continue Living With’.

Of the winning essay, author Mark O’Connell says: ‘Gabriela Denise Frank’s “A Self She Can Continue Living With” is a wonderful essay: funny, perceptive and original. Its subject, the alienation and futile drudgery of life in a large corporation, is one that is surprisingly rare in contemporary essays, and Frank handles it with lightness and style. I felt from the opening sentences that I was in the presence of a real writer.’

Gabriela Denise Frank, the winning writer, says: ‘The encouragement I feel from receiving the Fern Academy Prize can’t be overstated: I'm gobsmacked and deeply grateful. To know that my work resonated and that the judges see promise in me among a field of exceptionally talented writers – that’s the best any artist can hope for. This prize not only confers the kind of practical support and literary representation that can truly change a working writer’s life, it is a door swung open, making possible everything that comes after.’

Read Gabriela Denise Frank’s winning essay, ‘A Self She Can Continue Living With’ here.

In association with:

For more information, please contact fernacademyprize@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk.

* The winner will be solely responsible for arranging all travel and paying all travel costs to and from the writing course (including flights if applicable) offered as part of the prize. Any passport, travel documents or VISA requirements to attend the course will be the winner’s responsibility to organise.