Our aim at Darlington Literary is to amplify voices who have been underrepresented in the traditional publishing model. If you are part of a group that is currently under-represented in publishing (including disabled writers, Black, Asian and Global Majority writers, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community), The Alice Darlington Novel Award is for you!

We are looking for fantastic, gripping stories from diverse perspectives. With that in mind, we are accepting all genres of great fiction for the award. We are not looking for children’s fiction or non-fiction at this time.

Please send us, in one document, a short pitch for the book, a synopsis, and the first 4,000 words of your manuscript. In a separate document, please also send the first 20,000 words of your manuscript. We also require a short paragraph about yourself and why you're applying for the award.

We will be in contact with the shortlisted authors by the end of March. We are unable to provide feedback for all submissions but will let everyone know the result of their submission.