Awards and praise for Scouse Graffiti (novel in progress)
“She paints an atmospheric setting so vivid and full of sensory details that it feels like a memory lived, and not just read about.”
“A really strong piece of writing – a great voice and sense of place; real energy and wit, and I love how clearly and strongly Liverpool comes through as a character.’”
“Vivid sense of time and place... Great eye for detail.”
Northern Debut Award for Fiction 2024
“Receiving support from an organisation so committed to platforming stories and voices not yet heard in the mainstream is especially meaningful as this is everything I aim to do with my fiction.”
Photographed: Callan Waldron-Hall, Beth L. Thompson, Jazmine Linklater, Tom Branfoot, Cindy Withjack. Photo by: Rob Irish.
Beth was awarded a Northern Debut Award for Fiction by New Writing North for her novel in progress Scouse Graffiti.
The Northern Debut Awards for Fiction provide £2000 and mentoring support to 2 writers of fiction and 1 writer of Young Adult fiction. Read the awards announcement in The Bookseller.
Stockholm Writers Festival First 5 Pages Prize Winner 2023
In May 2023 Beth’s novel in progress, Scouse Graffiti, was selected by Stockholm Writers Festival as the winner of its First 5 Pages Prize. The festival announced:
‘Beth's voice and writing style are immediately engaging and totally captivating, as she takes us on a journey through Liverpool. Taking place in 2016, she touched a chord of melancholy in us, as she describes a year punctuated by the loss of musical giants, even as she draws us along the banks of the Mersey river, and into the nightlife of friends, and bandmates. She paints an atmospheric setting so vivid and full of sensory details that it feels like a memory lived, and not just read about, and she does this in a mere five pages! An incredible achievement, and well deserving of the grand prize! It's fair to say, Scouse Graffiti left us absolutely desperate to read more!’
Read the festival’s interview with Beth about her writing and experience of winning.
“The judges were compelled by the setting and language of Liverpool and by the clarity of the narrative voice. We’re looking forward to celebrating the book’s release one day in the not-so-distant future!”
The Literary Consultancy’s Pen Factor Prize
Beth’s novel in progress was also longlisted for the 2022 TLC Pen Factor Prize. TLC Pen Factor has an impressive track record for finding talent, with many of its previous finalists going on to be published. Previous winners and finalists include Neema Shah, Guinevere Glasfurd, Adam Sharp, Abi Daré, and Fawzia Kane.
Books
Second Place Rosette: Poems About Britain
Beth’s poem ‘Liver Bird’ was published in Second Place Rosette, a collection of poems about the customs, rituals and practices that make up life in modern Britain. It features poems from Dean Atta, Casey Bailey, Roy McFarlane, Fiona Moore, and more.
Faber Academy Anthology
Beth developed the first draft of her novel on Faber Academy’s advanced six-month Writing a Novel Course in London. The opening pages of Scouse Graffiti were featured in the Academy’s Autumn 2022 - Spring 2023 anthology.