By Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone
The Novel Studio has been running, albeit with a different title, since 2012. That’s 13 years of nurturing novel writing talent and every year brings new writers with exciting new stories to tell. With a wealth of published alumni from Lara Haworth, Harriet Tyce, Deepa Anappara, Hannah Begbie and tutor Kiare Ladner as just a small sample of past students, this year’s cohort proved they were hot on those published heals with a night of readings that really took our breath away.
Before we began there were a few announcements. We were very sad to say that Sufiya McNulty was unwell and unable to read her extract at the Showcase, but her wonderful piece is available in the anthology. More on that below!
We also wanted to acknowledge the sponsor of the Novel Studio Scholarship, George Politis. Originally set up in 2019 and sponsored by Harriet Tyce, the new scholarship, known as the Captain Tasos Politis scholarship after George’s late father, provides a full year’s fees for a student from a low-income family. We were so pleased to have George in the audience supporting yet another cohort of new writers. Thank you, George!
- Rosalind Ginsberg
- Maddie Silvs
- Emma O’Driscoll
- Aoife Sadlier
- Daragh Thomas
- Connor Maxwell
- Eva Nip
- Merveille Ondekane
- Rebecca Miles
After a few more thank yous to City George’s Short Courses team and the new director, Dr Holly Shiflett, the night opened with some very warm and wise words from alumna, Anna Mazzola.

Novel Studio Alumna Anna Mazzola
Anna joined us from the Connaught Hotel awaiting the awards ceremony of the CWA Dagger Awards. Her fifth novel, The Book of Secrets, was shortlisted for not just one, but two awards: the KAA Gold Dagger and the Historical Dagger. We are delighted to be able to congratulate her on winning the KAA Gold Dagger for the best crime novel of the year. She was only minutes away from discovering her win when she spoke of the importance of building a cohort of supportive writing buddies and making the most of every success for the long haul of writing that should always be about loving the process. Congratulations, Anna, we’re so delighted for you and excited that you were able to join us on the night!
Suitably buoyed by Anna’s words, the readings began with a heart-stopping extract from Rosalind Ginsberg. Her novel Things to do in Dalston When You’re Dead explores quite what happened to counsellor Melanie Little after she disappears on holiday. Rosalind’s extract examined quite why documentary-maker Anne was so keen to unravel the mystery of Melanie’s disappearance. What is there to do in Dalston when you’re dead?
Brought to life by Rosalind’s tale, we shook things up further as we entered a dance rehearsal. Top dance student Jordan Star was about to perform fouetté turns as punishment for her late arrival to the rehearsal, when she was joined by an even later student and the pressure began to mount further. Transported into the rush of movement and intense emotions of these young adult lives, Maddie Silvs read the extract from her novel, Stardust to great effect, leaving the audience as breathless as her characters.
Before we could get too comfortable back in reality, our next writer, Emma O’Driscoll, took us back through time to eighteenth century Wiltshire and a jolting carriage ride to the rotten borough of Hynedon. The extract from her novel, Trial by Fire, set a scene for momentous events to come, ending on an ominous note. ‘You mark my words’ her character exclaims, ‘one of these days there’s going to be a very serious accident.’
With our minds swirling in contemplation of what might happen next, we were forced to leave our curiosity on hold for Aoife Sadlier as she introduced us to her novel, Paloma and the Octopus. There we found Kaya desperately seeking connection with the magical Paloma, an alter-ego with a moustache and watermelon breasts who promises to come to Kaya’s aid in rediscovering her childhood toys and her sense of joy.
The image of a ripened peach sunset lingering, we stepped out of Kaya’s magical real world and headed for Mexico City and the antics of an Irish Writer, Seamus, in an extract from Daragh Thomas’s novel, Dogdealer. As Seamus desperately rushed through the city to catch his flight, we followed his turbulent mind and disrupted gut right out onto the ground with a puddle of vomit in which Seamus saw his artistry flourish. A character we’ve all grown to love to hate, Daragh’s compelling prose always induces rye smiles if not laughter.
Grins on our faces, we said goodbye to Seamus and his vomit-stained shoes for another reality entirely as Eva Nip read an extract from her novel, Insatiable. We stepped into a dream of Freya’s, an American university student learning about herself and her Chinese heritage through a connection with her dead grandmother, Popo. We listened in horror as Popo tried to hold on to objects breaking apart in her grasping fingers leaving trails of destruction that seemed to make their way out of the dream and into reality.
With Popo’s cries ringing in our ears, we fled from America to the Democractic Republic of Congo. Merveille Ondekane read an extract from her novel, Little People, taking us into the oppressive sick room of Thérèse’s mother, whose cursed foot was not only causing her pain but souring her attitude to her daughter. Announcing that she planned to sell her house and move away to live with her sister, long-suffering Thérèse was clearly at the start of a day of uncomfortable revelations.
What will happen to Thérèse? We’ll have to read the novel to find out and there was no time for further speculation as we took fresh steps into the future and the speculative world of Rebecca Miles, who read from her YA novel, Elderado. A hard-hitting and nail-biting account of a lottery followed. We were terrified to learn that Kore had won a place at the eco-sanctuary, Elderado. But some technology had forced her hand to sign into the ceremony and Kore didn’t know what to expect as a cry rang out and interrupted the crowd’s celebrations and her own uncertainty.
Left speculating what might be next for Kore, we found ourselves at the final reading of the evening. Once again we travelled back in time and across continents to find ourselves revisiting the founding of America with Connor Maxwell as he read from his novel, Between the Lines. Inspired by true events, the novel explores the American Revolution from through the eyes of enslaved Apollo. We witnessed Apollo leading a hunt under the threatening eyes of his master, Custis Braxton and the extract and the readings ending with the threat of a whipping.
It was a dramatic way to end a night of riveting readings from a group of seriously talented writers. You can watch the readings for yourself here and read the extracts in the 2025 Novel Studio Anthology, which will be available here very soon! We couldn’t be prouder of these brilliant new writers starting their journeys into a publishing world that would be seriously remiss in not snapping them up. Congratulations Novel Studio Cohort of 2025, we can’t wait to find out what happens next and wish you the best of luck with your writing!
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