Robinson New Voices Award Winner Announced
Hachette UK’s The Future Bookshelf and Robinson, an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group, are proud to announce the winner of the New Voices Award 2024, an open submissions competition intended to amplify the work of underrepresented experts in the field of psychology within the UK.
The competition invited submissions from those who identify with underrepresented groups, including people of Black, Asian, mixed heritage and multiple ethnic backgrounds, as well as those who are disabled, gender diverse, part of the LGBTQIA+ community or from cultural or religious minorities.
A shortlist was selected from all of the submissions and scored and discussed by a judging panel consisting of three publisher staff, Dr Evelyn Carter (winner of the New Voices Award 2023), literary agent Amandeep Singh (of The Good Literary Agency) and Dr Deborah Husbands, an expert psychologist from the University of Westminster.
From the shortlist, the panel selected Coping with Narcissistic Abuse: How to Use Trauma-focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Survive and Thrive, by Dr Daksha Hirani, as the winning proposal.
On behalf of the judging panel, Little, Brown’s Rights Director, Jessica Purdue, said, ‘We unanimously felt that Dr Hirani’s proposal stood out as a clear winner. Coping With Narcissistic Abuse combines a timely, urgent subject, an engaging narrative, and clear, expert advice drawn from Daksha’s impressive research and credentials. It fills a gap in the market and will be a useful tool for many people’.
Dr Hirani is a clinical psychologist with over twenty-five years of experience. After having specialised in neuro-rehabilitation, health psychology and general adult mental health, she has devoted the last eight years to specialising in recovery from narcissistic abuse. Her clients come from all walks of life and are at all stages in their recovery process. She has been using trauma-focused acceptance and commitment therapy to great effect when working with this client group.
Dr Hirani said, ‘I am thrilled and humbled in equal measure at being announced as the winner of this Award. I am excited to share my work and have it benefit anyone who might find it helpful. Thank you Robinson for selecting me as the winner of your prestigious award’.
Dr Hirani will receive an introduction to a literary agent; feedback and guidance from Robinson’s editorial team on turning their proposal into a manuscript; and the offer of a publishing contract with Robinson with a minimum advance level of £5000.
The New Voices Award is offered in partnership with the Little, Brown Spark list of Little, Brown and Company, USA. The competition will run annually, and will be hosted on alternate years by Robinson (open to writers in the UK) and by Little, Brown Spark (open to writers in the USA).
Click here to read more about the competition.
