To celebrate the upcoming announcement of this year’s Desmond Elliott Prize winner (1 July) and Independent Bookshop Week (19 – 26 June), we’re giving away a book bundle of all ten DEP 2021 longlisted books!

The 2021 longlist is as follows:

  • A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Tramp Press)
  • Castles From Cobwebs by J.A. Mensah (Saraband)
  • Crow Court by Andy Charman (Unbound)
  • Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan (Weidenfeld & Nicholson)
  • How We Are Translated by Jessica Gaitán Johannesson (Scribe)
  • little scratch by Rebecca Watson (Faber)
  • Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson (Viking)
  • Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez (Dialogue Books)
  • The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams (William Heinemann)
  • The Manningtree Witches by A.K. Blakemore (Granta Books)

You can enter the giveaway on Twitter or Instagram – or both, if you’re feeling lucky! Here’s how…

To enter on Twitter: Follow @WritersCentre, retweet this post, and in the comments tell us who your favourite indie bookshop is and why.

To enter on Instagram: Follow @WritersCentre, share this post on your Stories or your feed, and in the comments tell us who your favourite indie bookshop is and why.

Entries will close on Monday 5 July at 5pm BST. UK entries only.

As a bonus, when the winner is selected, we’ll also send your nominated bookshop a cash prize of £500!


Join us for the announcement of the Desmond Elliott Prize winner 2021

Thursday 1 July, 6pm BST, Online

Join us online as we announce the winner of the Desmond Elliott Prize 2021, selected by our panel of judges as the year’s best first novel from across the UK and Ireland.

Hear from members of the NCW team and our judges about what makes the prize – and this year’s shortlist – so special, followed by a speech from the winner.

The Manningtree Witches by A. K. Blakemore, little scratch by Rebecca Watson and The Liar’s Dictionary by Eley Williams are all in the running to win the £10,000 prize.

Please register in advance to receive a streaming link direct to your inbox >>>