The winners of a Newham fiction-writing competition judged by a trio of bestselling borough authors have been announced.
Thomas McColl was awarded the winner of the adult fiction category in the talent contest to find Newham’s next big author, while Daniel Solle came first in the children’s and young adult category.
Newham authors Vaseem Khan, Barbara Nadel, and Abir Mukherjee announced the winner at a gala awards evening at Manor Park Library.
Vaseem, who waited 23 years for his first book The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra to be published, advised all the competition’s entrants to “write every day, and never give up on your dream”.
His crime novel, which is set in India and features a baby elephant, went on to become a 2015 Times bestseller.
The runners-up in the adult category were Luan Goldie, Karis White and Nina Duttaroy, plus Ellen May Dorrington, Celia Jones and Aminah Slimani in the children’s and young adult entries.
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