A Bangladeshi performance poet is the only man among eight female authors in the running for this year's New Writing Ventures prizes.

As of today, there are three more names to look out for in the roll call of rising literary stars. Two teachers and an arts facilitator will be celebrating this evening after winning £5000 each in the inaugural New Writing Ventures awards. The winners will also be presented with a personal development programme, designed to help them make an impact on the literary world in coming years.

The inaugural shortlists for the New Writing Ventures awards have been announced and include work from a professional chess coach and a special needs teacher

BookTrust announces launch of New Writing Ventures, an annual series of national awards designed to nuture emerging talent in the fields of fiction, literary non-fiction and poetry.