Future Worlds Prize for Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of Colour has opened for entries for its 2025 award, marking the fifth time the prize will be awarded.

 The prize aims to find new talent based in the UK writing in the SFF space, from magical realism and space operas to dystopia and more. The prize is funded by author Ben Aaronovitch and actor Adjoa Andoh. 

The winner of Future Worlds Prize receives £4,500, and the runner-up receives £2,500. The remaining six shortlisted writers each receive £850. 

All eight writers also receive mentoring from one of the prize’s publishing partners: Bloomsbury, Daphne Press, Gollancz, Hodderscape, Orbit, Penguin Michael Joseph, Simon & Schuster and Tor.

Future Worlds Prize closes for entries at 23:59 GMT on Sunday January 26, 2025.  

The prize’s 2024 winner was Ese Erheriene with The Suit Sellers of Kowloon, a short story set among the men who work as suit sellers and tailors on the streets of Kowloon, in Hong Kong. The Suit Sellers of Kowloon is the first short story to win the prize.

A number of the prize’s winners and shortlisted writers have gone on to secure publishing deals. Inaugural winner Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson’s first novel The Principle of Moments, released in January 2024, was a Sunday Times bestseller. In 2025, three writers who have come through Future Worlds Prize will have books released. These are:

• 2023 runner-up Salma Ibrahim’s Salutation Road, out in February from Mantle
• M. H. Ayinde’s A Song of Legends Lost, which won the 2021 prize under its former title A Shadow in Chains, to be published in April by Orbit
• 2024 shortlisted writer Marve Anson’s Firstborn of the Son, out in October from Penguin Michael Joseph. 

Future Worlds Prize was founded by bestselling author Ben Aaronovitch in 2020, and was previously named the Gollancz and Rivers of London BAME SFF Award. The prize is financially supported by Aaronovitch and Bridgerton actor Andoh, with additional support from its publishing partners. It is administered by Future Worlds Prize CIC, a not-for-profit organization. 

For submission details and more on the prize, visit the hFuture Worlds Prize website, Twitter, or Instagram.