Society of Authors' Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize

In memory of Malcolm Lowry and endowed by Gordon Bowker, his biographer, and Ramdei Bowker.

A prize awarded to a UK or Irish writer, or a writer currently resident in those countries, for a novel focusing on the experience of travel away from home.

Inspired by Malcolm Lowry’s novel, Under the Volcano and in celebration of its author, the prize aims to inspire literary excellence and encourage writers to travel and to write from the resulting experience.

The winner will receive £2,000 and the runner-up £750.

WINNER 2024

Wild Geese

Emmanuel, Soula ISBN: 9781804440162
Paperback / softback

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New home, new name and newly thirty: Phoebe Forde has stepped into emigrant life in Copenhagen with her anxious dog, Dolly. Almost three years into her gender transition, she has learned to move through the world carefully, savouring small moments of joy. A woman without a past can be anyone she wants - that is, until an unexpected visit from Grace, her first love, brings memories of Dublin and a life she thought she'd left behind. Over the course of a single weekend, as their old romance kindles something sweet and radically unfamiliar, Grace helps Phoebe to navigate the jagged edges of migration, nostalgia and hope. 

- Browns Books Synopsis

Shortlist 2024

Hammad, Isabella ISBN: 9781529919998
Paperback / softback

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Bhattacharya, Santanu ISBN: 9780241996393
Paperback / softback

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Pin, Cecile ISBN: 9780008528812
Paperback / softback

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Emmanuel, Soula ISBN: 9781804440162
Paperback / softback

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We also administer two awards that celebrate the best in non-fiction writing from young authors. Our poetry awards are amongst the most prestigious in the UK. They celebrate excellence in poetry from those just starting out as well those established in their careers.