The Plaza Memoir: First Chapters Prizewinners (Top 3)

Judged by Memoirist, Novelist, Poet, Musician, and Associate Professor in Creative Writing, Toby Litt.

1st: Plan B by Sheena Wilkinson (UK)

‘I found this very original, moving and nicely wry. One of the best things about is, in my view, is that it’s dealing with extremely difficult and subtle emotions, prompted by a situation many people must have found themselves in.’ TOBY LITT

2nd: 12 Reasons To Be Yourself by Gabriela Blandy (UK)

‘This is an amazing piece of writing, with lots of satisfying cross-correspondences between different sections.’ TOBY LITT

Big congrats to our Top 3 winners. What Toby Litt had to say generally about the entries:

When I hear competition judges say, ‘It was really difficult to choose a winner, the entries were all of such a high standard’ I tend to think they’re being kind, and trying to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings. And so I know that if I say something similar, you’ll have similar doubts. But the best memoirs I read for The Plaza Memoir: First Chapters Prize are outstanding pieces of writing: funny, anguished, full of insight and sensibility. I had to choose between them, and this made me reconsider what a good memoir should do. In the end, I decided it should do as many things as possible, all at the same time, but with deep emotional logic and clear focus.

If you didn’t win a prize this time, there will be another Memoir: First Chapters comp in January 2024.

Why not enter our NEW Science Fiction / Fantasy (5000 word max.) with literary agent, and Director of the Soho Agency, Ben Clark, as judge. Top prize: £1,000. Deadline: 30th June, 2023.