2023 Writing Mentorship Award Longlist

Born and raised in Seattle, Frannie James is a personable and knowledgeable creative with 15+ years of professional experience gained in copywriting/content roles. She has finished her first novel, inspired by experiences in the Emerald City during her 20s (a.k.a. the “tail end” of coming-of-age)

Hello, I am excited to be entering the Page Turner Awards for the third year in a row. Originally from the West of Scotland, I am now settled in Edinburgh with my husband and two cats. As a self employed artist I work mainly from home. This gives me the opportunity to spend some time exploring the

I’m Holly, mother of four, and trying to find out who I am beyond that! I’m a lifelong book lover and writer wannabe, but just recently started trying to make that happen.

I'm based in the UK and concentrate on crime, occasionally with some form of alternative reality twist, or something very wrong. I'm an alumna of CBC's Advanced Writing Crime Fiction course with Sarah Hillary. Also, I am utterly useless at writing bios, which is OK because my day job finds me

am a librarian with the Enoch Pratt Free Library where I run the weekly Light Street Writers Exchange. I'm also the Baltimore chapter coordinator for Shut Up and Write and the Conference Chair for the Washington Writers Conference. I completed my first novel, Little Boxes, at Arizona State

I'm based in the UK and concentrate on crime, occasionally with some form of alternative reality twist, or something very wrong. I'm an alumna of CBC's Advanced Writing Crime Fiction course with Sarah Hillary. Also, I am utterly useless at writing bios, which is OK because my day job finds me

I have always had a great passion for writing and specialised in scriptwriting at film school. My 27-year career has been in technical production within regional news, though my love for creating stories and new ideas has been a very important part of who I am. My writing experience is outlined

I’ve been writing for many years and have published The Devils' Cradle novel (under my pseudonym Darcy Daniel), which has fantastic reviews on Amazon. Winner of TopShelf Magazine's Indie Book Awards for "The Devils' Cradle" under the pseudonym Darcy Daniel - available on Amazon: https://www.amazon

I'm based in the UK and concentrate on crime, occasionally with some form of alternative reality twist, or something very wrong. I'm an alumna of CBC's Advanced Writing Crime Fiction course with Sarah Hillary. Also, I am utterly useless at writing bios, which is OK because my day job finds me

I have enjoyed writing in some form or other since childhood. At the moment I am writing a story for children aged 9 - 11 years, titled, Last Tree Standing or Kestane Park, I haven't made my mind up yet. I have a website where there is more information about me and my writing self. To enable me more

Gabriel was raised in rural Devon in the South West of England. He has been, or still is, in roughly chronological order, an art school graduate, band leader, festival organiser, teacher, backpacker, and surfer. For the last eight years, he has lived in the Southern Pacific region of Costa Rica

Masha Shukovich (she/they) is a writer, poet, storyteller, folklorist, teacher, independent scholar, and intuitive chef with ancestry and indigenous roots in the Balkans; the Mediterranean; and West, Central, and Northeast Asia (Siberia). She is a mother, demigirl, neurodivergent person, practical

Livin' the dream. D.W. Plato has degrees in Business Management and Psychology. This education gives her the multiple skills she needs to be a full-time landlord. “One of these days I’ll be a full-time AUTHOR and a part-time landlord,” she jokes. #lifegoals With four books already published, she's

Hannah Croft is an English comedian and writer who recently moved to Turin with her Italian husband and two children.

I am an author, playwright, and freelance writer loving life in the American Southwest. Surviving and fleeing my upbringing in the Chicago area under the tutelage of white supremacist parents, I wandered until I found my true home here, inspired by the mystical landscapes, unique cultural history

Growing up in an area of western Kentucky called “Possum Trot,” Ashley became fluent in Japanese during college and moved to Tokyo, Japan. After spending a decade in a high-pressure, Japanese language-only corporate environment, he recently quit his job to become a writer. He shall either become

Anna P. Read is a Polish writer living in Edinburgh. She used to write poetry and short stories in Polish. After moving permanently to Scotland, she began writing fiction in English. Anna writes mostly historical crime fiction and has had some successes in competitions. She was shortlisted for the

Arlene is passionate about art in all its forms. She fully believes that at the end of the day (and the end of all civilizations) art is the only thing that lasts after all the dust has settled. (That, and children— of which she has two.) Arlene grew up in an Appalachian town where everybody knows

I am a senior acquiring editor of middle grade and young adult fiction for Jolly Fish Press and Flux, the author of several children’s nonfiction books, a 2019 Pitch Wars mentee, and a graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at Antioch University L.A.

Gidon Ben-Zvi is an accomplished writer who left behind Hollywood starlight for Jerusalem stone. After serving in an IDF infantry unit for two-and-a-half years, Gidon returned to the United States, before settling in Israel where he aspires to raise a brood of children who speak English fluently -

Faye studied at the University of Oxford and now lives in London. Her corporate events career is on ice while she raises two little girls. She has been menstruating for three hundred and sixteen months, probably writing for the same. Rag Rage is her first novel.

Ali writes psychological thrillers in which ordinary people learn how to thrive in the realm BETWEEN good and evil. Her passion is simple: to explore truth through mind-bending stories that invite readers to see the world through a different lens. She writes thrillers for the heart because she

Like my main character Laelia, I wear hearing aids in both ears (following hearing loss associated with the chronic illness Hashimoto’s which I was diagnosed with eight years ago) and I’m passionate about removing their stigma, particularly amongst non-pensioners (!) Apart from that, I'm nothing

Dear Page Turner Awards Judges, I'm honored to submit my work for your consideration. I've written three novels about the Russian Revolution and the ensuing civil war which center around the Romanovs. The first one, THE MOTH ORCHID (historical, about 99,000 words) starts with the assassination of

I am aiming to be a published author in the next year. However, I’m also a vascular surgeon and mother of one so finding time to write can be challenging! I am working on my debut novel and hope that a mentorship prize could help me complete my manuscript and achieve my dream of publication.

Late starter. Spent most of my time working in hospitals, bringing up a family, and in the occasional down times, running, reading and co-authoring science and medical papers - over 50 published, but none of major significance. Started writing fiction in May 2022 - currently writing fourth book

I'm a Swedish born writer living in Brighton.

Nathan is a Faber Academy graduate as well as a DHH New Voices and United Agents 100x100 shortlisted writer. He works in advertising by day, consulting some of the UK's biggest brands, from Cadbury to Domino's. His aim is to set up stall in the speculative genre, and thinks his novels would sit

Judy is a videographer specializing in video biography, helping people to tell their stories for their children and grandchildren. She has been investigating her own family history for over 40 years, turning names and dates in to stories for her family: helping them to understand their past in order

J.M. Ervin is a teacher based out of Northern California. She lives with her husband, two kids, and countless wild animals. When not teaching, she can be found either lost writing in her own worlds, in front of a heater with too much coffee and her nose buried in a book, or as a hostage goddess in

I am a 43 year old British Pakistani/ Kashmiri woman from a working class background. I have degrees from Oxford, Cambridge and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I moved to Malawi in 2005 and back to the UK in 2021. I am married, have three daughters and currently live in Ascot and

Jenny currently lives in Devon, England, after five and a half years as an itinerant home and pet sitter. She loves taking very long walks and talking to the cows. For the past decade, she has been quietly writing in different forms and genres, learning to trust her voice. One of her favourite

For over twenty years, I worked as a professor of literature and most of my published work is in the academic field. My specialization in the African diaspora literature of the Americas provides background material for my novel-in-progress. "Revolutions: from La Habana to Harlem" combines historical

Emma Shtanichev is currently doing an MA in Creative Writing. She has been longlisted for Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. When she’s not reading or writing, she can be found walking or swimming in the sea with her son.

I'm a 56 year old violinist and string teacher, the daughter of a german-jewish holocaust refugee. I grew up in St Andrews, Scotland, where my Dad was a history lecturer in the university. Thereafter, I studied and lived in Sheffield until 2000. For the past 23 years I've been a resident of

I am a retired professor of Victorian Literature who has written two single-authored books, produced several editions, edited or co-edited several essays, and written numerous articles. During the course of my career I worked with a writing therapist, Cynthia MacDonald, a poet and therapist who was

Born in Plymouth, England, Mark Daniel Taylor is a writer from a working-class family who now lives in London. He is an alumnus of the 2020 New Orleans Writers’ Residency and placed as a finalist in the 2019 Adventures in Fiction New Voices Competition. Between 2020 and 2024, he has been listed in

Steve conveys perspectives and emotions in poems and songs. His draft memoir, Galvanized, tells how he overcame timidity as an air cavalry officer in the Vietnam War. A tuxedo cat from a shelter encourages him from a perch over his PC keyboard. Steve assists disabled veterans in getting government

Prasha is a published children's book author, clinical audiologist and educator with Master's degrees in Audiology and Education (Global Learning). Her award-winning picture book, My Brain is Magic: A Sensory-Seeking Celebration was published by Soaring Kite Books in 2023. She was the recipient of a

Originally from South West England – I am now settled (with my wonderful dog Millie) on the edge of the beautiful Lake District National Park. My writing, like my life, reflects some deep inner shifts – and I find great inspiration from being near the mountains, walking in the woods, or breathing in

Born in Spain, raised in Australia, I now live in Ireland with my husband and two teenagers. I like to tap into the heart and mind of my protagonists, so readers connect to them on an emotional level. I'm a self-taught writer and In Her Skin is my debut novel. I'm active in writing/critique groups

As an avid reader I've always been fascinated by fiction and its ability to inspire the audience to question and reflect on aspects of real life. Like many people, this has made me want to write my own novels and finally, in my late 50s, I had the chance to study for a creative writing degree at De

Corporate turned creative. Swapping life in a FTSE for freedom, I now enjoy more creative days as an aspiring writer and a business and marketing consultant. My novels, written with screenplay adaptation in mind, draw on the reality of today - the highs and lows, twists and turns of modern life and

Originally from South West England – I am now settled (with my wonderful dog Millie) on the edge of the beautiful Lake District National Park. My writing, like my life, reflects some deep inner shifts – and I find great inspiration from being near the mountains, walking in the woods, or breathing in

Ayesha lives in Norway with her husband and two beautiful daughters. She was raised in Pakistan and worked for several years in Islamabad before moving to Norway, where she currently has a day-job as a Product Manager. In 2022 she won a bursary for Jericho Writer’s Self-Edit Your Novel course. Her

I was born in Wisconsin, raised in Southern California, then moved back to Wisconsin, where I’ve lived for the last 35 years. Having four seasons instead of two has been one of the many benefits of living in Northwestern Wisconsin. So is living in the country, because I get to enjoy its beauty and

I don’t remember the first story I wrote but at high school I do remember writing a ‘science fiction’ story featuring a pair of goggles that allowed you to see inside other people’s minds and reverse their deeds. As a teen I favoured poetry. I relished the straightjacket form of a haiku and the

Jade Jiao is a British-born writer living in Tokyo, Japan. With a lifelong love of horror, she writes about the things that scare her, the macabre, and enjoys books that have a dark sense of humour. She has an MA in screenwriting from the University of Salford, and when she isn't writing, she loves

Kat Trigarszky (pen name: Katharine Rogers) is a freelance writer and copy editor originally from the UK but now living in Stockholm, Sweden. When not writing her first novel, a work of historical fiction set in England during the Second World War, she is a co-host of the Historical Fiction writing