London literary agency AM Heath is launching a biennial adult novel prize to honour the much-loved double Booker Prize-winning author Hilary Mantel, who died in 2022 and who was represented by the agency. The agency says: “Hilary was a staunch supporter of countless first-time novelists, so the prize will focus on work in progress from unpublished writers, with the aim of offering the mentoring and financial support to assist the best of the next generation in finishing their work.” AM Heath will be working with the publisher John Murray and creative writing charity Arvon.
The first Hilary Mantel Prize will be awarded in early spring 2026. The winner and runner-up will each receive a cash prize – of £7,500 and £2,500, respectively – and personal mentoring from an agent at AM Heath and an editor at John Murray. The winner will also receive a place on an Arvon residential writing course. The runner-up will receive a place on an Arvon masterclass.
Bestselling author Maggie O’Farrell will chair the panel of five judges for the inaugural 2026 award, alongside Nicholas Pearson, Mantel’s editor of 18 years; actor Ben Miles, who played Thomas Cromwell in the RSC adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s novels Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light, the last of which he co-wrote with Mantell; author Chetna Maroo, whose debut novel Western Lane was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; and author Chigozie Obioma, who has twice been a Booker Prize finalist and was a Booker judge in 2021.
O’Farrell said: “All writers know that encouragement early in your career can be crucial and life-changing, but few put this into action quite like Hilary Mantel did. Somehow, in between creating her own books, she found the time to read and respond to the work of others. She was as brilliant a reader as she was a writer, perspicuous in her insights, always unfailingly generous in championing books, with a special emphasis on those of emerging writers.
“She held the ladder for those coming up behind her, which is not always the case with someone of her stature. It is entirely fitting that there is now a prize for unpublished writers in her name.”