The winner and runners up for the 2025 Nero New Writers Prize in association with Brunel University of London have been revealed. There was an overwhelming response to the call for submissions of short stories for the competition. The judging panel chaired by Sophie Elmhirst, Sunday Times bestselling author and winner of the 2024 Nero Gold Prize, along with Bernardine Evaristo, Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel, and Helen Cullen, Reader in Creative Writing, had a very difficult choice to make to select three outstanding entries that exemplify originality, literary excellence and promise.

The Nero New Writers Prize in association with Brunel University of London seeks to uncover the best and brightest untapped writing talent and support them as they develop into the stars of the future. The winner will receive £3,000, a scholarship for an MA in Creative Writing at Brunel, and an introduction to a literary agent. Each runner-up will receive £1,000 and a mentorship session with a member of Brunel’s Creative Writing faculty.