The London Library is delighted to announce the newest cohort of its flagship Emerging Writers Programme, which supports early-career writers and is now entering its seventh year. The Programme is made possible thanks to the vital support from Amazon Literary Partnership, Bloomsbury Publishing, The Charlotte Aitken Trust, and Hawthornden Foundation.

40 participants were selected anonymously from a field of over 1950 applicants, a record-breaking number, by a panel of judges including poet Rishi Dastidar (Neptune’s Projects, Too Young, Too Loud, Too Different); children’s author, novelist, scriptwriter and songwriter Maz Evans (Who Let the Gods Out, Vi Spy); novelist and short story writer Irenosen Okojie(Nudibranch, Curandera); non-fiction author, photographer and broadcaster Johny Pitts (Afropean, Home is Not a Place); screenwriter and director Benjamin Ross (The Young Poisoner’s Handbook, Poppy Shakespeare); playwright and performer Chris Thorpe (The Shape of Pain, A Family Business) and C&W literary agents Emma Finn and Lucy Luck.

The emerging writers hail from across the UK, from Scotland to the South Coast, Northern Ireland to Cambridgeshire and they span an age range from early twenties to early fifties. The cohort is working on a diverse array of projects, taking us from Sri Lanka to Zimbabwe, the Philippines to the Caribbean, the borderlands of Poland/Ukraine and England/Scotland and to all the many global iterations of Lands End. They explore ancient Rome, the Silk Road, Victorian erotica, Cold War Germany and the Partition of India. There are projects about literary couples, divorce, eugenics, sonic distortion and sonic fetishism, nostalgia, grief, religion and romance.  

Find out more about our new Emerging Writers cohort

 

UPDATE: Library building open as normal - Saturday 21 June

We are pleased to report that the Library building is now open with full access to power. Members can enjoy access to all services as usual.   

 

UPDATE: work continues on power outage issue

UK Power engineers have been working on the issues in the local area and power has been largely restored. However, we are still working to restore our building systems, which may take a few more hours. Therefore, the building will remain closed to members for the rest of the afternoon.

We are expecting the Library to be open as normal on Saturday 21 June.  

Thank you for your patience.

 

Library building closed due to local power outage - Friday 20 June

Due to a UK Power outage in the local area, the Library building is currently unable to open to ensure the safety of our staff and members.

Along with neighbouring buildings, large areas of the Library are affected included the stacks, lifts, toilets and fire alarms. Members may also experience a delay in communicating with staff who cannot access emails.

Engineers are currently working on this issue and we have been advised that we may be able to open this afternoon.

In the meantime, members not visiting the building today can make use of our electronic resources, Catalyst, and eBooks, as well as the online events available through the website.

Please check back here for updates.

We are delighted to announce our five new London Library Ambassadors, who join our existing 10 ambassadors and will help raise awareness of the Library and expand the Library’s reach and impact.

The Ambassadors were chosen for their longstanding support in which each member has, on numerous occasions, voluntarily offered their time, expertise and platform for the Library. Their work spans genres, from historic writing to poetry and academia, reflecting our wonderfully creative and diverse community.

We are glad to publicly extend our gratitude for their valued, ongoing commitment to the Library.

Find out more about the Library Ambassadors

As part of our ongoing partnership with the Jhalak Prize, we want to congratulate 2025 winners Mimi Khalvati, NS Nuseibeh and Nathanael Lessore for winning this year’s ninth Jhalak Prize. 

Established in 2016, The Jhalak Prize awards celebrate the creativity, imagination and literary excellence that people of colour bring to the UK publishing landscape.

As Jhalak prize partners, we are delighted to support these winners and those shortlisted with complimentary London Library membership. 

  1. Notice: Catalyst maintenance 12-13 July 2025
  2. Our Charitable Object, Mission, Values and 5 Year Strategic Plan
  3. Building Connections Phase Two Update
  4. New Resource: Daily Mail archive
  5. Building Works and Basement Collections

Subcategories

News Hidden