September 25
The Andromeda Award
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Celebrating Excellent Literature
The Andromeda Award was launched in 2024 by UTA and C&W to seek out and support the best new emerging science fiction and fantasy writers.
Our judges from both sides of the Atlantic appreciate all types of science fiction and fantasy. From grounded speculative thriller to spicy romantasy, action-packed epic fantasy to universe-spanning space opera, they are excited to read your work.
The award is open to anyone based in the UK or USA who has a full-length science fiction or fantasy novel. Key submission dates are below; further information can be found in our official rules.
Prizes
First Prize - $5,000
Second Prize - $3,000 + a place on Curtis Brown Creative’s nine-week Writing Fantasy course
Third Prize - $1,000 + a place on the six-week online Curtis Brown Creative course of their choice (courses include Writing Science Fiction, Writing Gothic & Supernatural Fiction and many others)
Key Dates
Submissions Open
September 25, 2024
Submissions Close
December 18, 2024
Longlist Announced
March 25, 2025
Shortlist Announced
April 22, 2025
Winner Announced
May 6, 2025
Judges
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Susan Armstrong
Agent
Susan Armstrong loves discovering new voices and helping debut writers launch their careers. She is interested in grounded SFF, speculative and genre-bending fiction, contemporary stories, family dramas, gothic and folkloric tales, crime thrillers, and literary fiction. She has a particular soft spot for novels with an edge of ‘otherness.’ Susan proudly represents the New York Times, Sunday Times, and award-winning writers such as ML Stedman, Joanna Cannon, Jess Kidd, Claire Kohda, Miranda Cowley Heller, C.E. McGill, and Jo Callaghan.
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Brandi Bowles
Agent
Brandi Bowles began representing authors in 2007, including authors of science fiction, thrillers, and upmarket genre fiction, particularly those focused on STEM, magical realism, or psychological/scientific themes. Her clients include Syfy writer Damien Ober (Voidverse, coming 2025); award-winning crime writer Jo Callaghan (In The Blink of an Eye, 2024); Bridget Foley (Just Get Home, 2022; Hugo and Rose 2018); science writer Kate Biberdorf; Amy Green (The Prized Girl, 2022, You Started This, 2025); and Alex Hirsch, bestselling author and creator of Disney's "Gravity Falls.”
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Alexander Cochran
Agent
Alexander Cochran is actively building his list and is open to submissions of speculative fiction, literary fiction, crime, and thriller. He is particularly interested in dark thrillers, sci-fi, and fantasy that push boundaries or cross genres but are rooted in the believable. He is proud to represent authors such as Tade Thompson, Nicholas Binge, Hiron Ennes, Eliza Chan, and the Estate of Iain M Banks.
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Clare Conville
Agent
Clare Conville co-founded Conville & Walsh in 2000 after working as an editor at Random House. She loves literary and commercial novels, memoirs, and exceptional non-fiction, with a special interest in history, nature, and art, and her clients have won numerous major literary prizes. Claire is proud to represent authors such as Matt Haig, Dolly Alderton, Rachel Joyce, and Antonia Hodgson.
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Ciara Finan
Agent
Ciara Finan joined Curtis Brown in 2018. She is drawn to books with decisive voices, unforgettable characters, and unexpected stories. She seeks fantasy, rom-com, book club fiction, psychological thrillers, historical fiction, and commercial non-fiction, especially from underrepresented backgrounds. She loves stories that subvert conventional narratives of love, friendship, family, loss, and coming-of-age.
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Gráinne Fox
Agent
Gráinne Fox joined UTA in 2023 from Fletcher & Company, representing award-winning, bestselling novelists, journalists, and academics. She has a passion for Irish, British, and European literature and is always looking for smart debut literary voices for an international audience. She is drawn to writers who delight and entertain their readers with every single line, especially in genre-bending, uncanny fiction that creates new worlds and new ways of telling love stories.
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Byrd Leavell
Agent
Byrd Leavell is the Co-Head of UTA Publishing and co-founded the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency in 2012. Over his 20-year career, he has represented numerous New York Times #1 bestsellers. He is proud to represent authors such as Cebo Campbell (Sky Full of Elephants), Scott Sigler (Infected), and Drew Magary (The Postmortal).
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Peter Steinberg
Agent
Peter Steinberg is at United Talent Agency, joining from Fletcher & Company in 2021. He has represented many New York Times bestsellers, with clients nominated for prestigious awards such as the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He is proud to represent writers such as R.M. Grey (Nightweaver), Damien Ober (Voidverse), and Keith Donohue (The Boy Who Drew Monsters).
Sponsors
United Talent Agency
UTA Publishing partners with authors through every step of the publishing process, from initial concepts to expansion into other media and platforms. Their clients include writers of bestselling and award-winning fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, poetry, memoirs, and more. Their authors have won or been shortlisted for major prizes like the National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the Booker Prize, the Women's Prize, and more.
Conville & Walsh
C&W is a dynamic London-based literary agency with a team that has a stellar reputation for championing talented new voices and nurturing established authors with the passion and dedication every writer deserves. Their authors have won or been nominated for just about every prize, including the Booker Prize, the Nobel Peace Prize, The Women's Prize for Fiction, the Costa Book of the Year Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the NSW Premier's Literary Award, and many more.
Curtis Brown Creative
Curtis Brown Creative (CBC) is one of the UK’s most successful writing academies, running courses online and in London. It’s the only creative writing school to be owned and run by a major literary and talent agency (The Curtis Brown Group). Since CBC was founded in 2011, over 240 students have become commercially published authors, including Bonnie Garmus (Lessons in Chemistry), Emilia Hart (Weyward) and Sean Lusk (The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley). CBC frequently runs free courses, scholarships and mentoring for under-represented writers through their Breakthrough Writers’ Programme.
Submit Your Creation: The Andromeda Award Awaits!
Please read competition rules and disclosures before submitting.