Nigerian writers Tega Oghenechovwen and Olakunle Ologunro have been named on the 2025 Deborah Rogers Award longlist, announced this week as the prize marks its tenth anniversary of supporting debut literary voices.
Founded in memory of literary agent Deborah Rogers, the award has become a space where early-career writers gain the support needed to finish and publish their first manuscripts.
Oghenechovwen’s We Can Start This Story and Ologunro’s Do You Think I’m a Bad Person? are two of the six short story collections recognised among eleven longlisted works.
The award offers £10,000 to one unpublished writer to complete their first book, with £3,000 each for two shortlisted authors. This year’s judging panel features Erica Wagner, Inua Ellams, and Natalie Haynes, with the shortlist to be announced on October 22 and the winner on November 4, 2025.
The full longlist includes:
- Yellow is Not for Girls Like Me by June Aming
- Ascension by Piers Kobina Buckman
- Quarehawks by Fearghal Hall
- A Good Woman by Lizzie Gold
- We Can Start This Story by Tega Oghenechovwen
- Tales of Shawq by Leeor Ohayon
- Happy When by Jenny O’Donnel
- Do You Think I’m a Bad Person? by Olakunle Ologunro
- Breathwork by Rosa Mäkelä
- Ratri by Saranya Murthi
- She Herself is a Haunted House by Georgia Poplett.
Congratulations, Tega Oghenechovwen and Olakunle Ologunro!
Bakare Oluwatobiloba
I write to educate, motivate and define history with literature. Just being me!
