27 writers
supported in 2025
Breakthrough Class of 2025
In 2025 we supported 27 talented, under-represented writers via our Breakthrough Writers' Programme – funded by Curtis Brown, HW Fisher and individual author-sponsors. Keep reading to learn more about some of the writers we supported, their works-in-progress and what Breakthrough means to them.
Mentoring students
Darby Machin
Darby was awarded a place on our Breakthrough Mentoring Programme for LGBTQIA+ Writers. Darby is being mentored by Jake Arnott.
Bio
Darby Machin is a three-time murder attempt survivor, and unwilling recipient of multiple disabilities. Born in South London, he grew up in Bristol, and now lives in the East of England with a cavalcade of ghosts, a half-dead snake plant, and a concerning amount of unfinished crochet projects. In a former life, he worked as an illustrator, a youth advocate, and a game designer, and has been lovingly described by friends as a million pop culture references held together with trauma.
A gay, Roma, working-class author, Darby writes voice-first horror, often about class and identity, with strong themes of transformation and resistance. His work uses solid genre and cinematic foundations to explore hard-hitting topics, and he enjoys blending psychological realism with genre conventions, finding strange truths in stranger situations.
Darby’s book
Vicious Young Things is an unflinching, voice-driven Adult horror novel set in the early 2000s, following a working-class, gay teenager’s experience at a troubled-youth workshop from hell.
Sam just wants a quiet life. A cheap flat by the coast. Warm beer. A wonderfully temporary boyfriend. But, at sixteen, kicked out of school, branded a “troubled teen”, and with no support at home, his options aren’t just limited – they’re non-existent. Then comes Bright Days, a shady youth outreach group, who drag Sam and five other problem kids to the coast of Devon. Isolated, frightened, and with supposed accidents piling up, it doesn’t take long for the cracks in Bright Days to show, and Sam might have to risk making connections if he hopes to survive.
Social, survival, and body horror collide, in this exploration of connection, testimony, and Britain's ASBO culture war of the early 2000s.
- ‘Getting a spot on the CBC LGBTQIA+ Mentorship program has felt quite unreal. I’ve spent my whole life wanting to tell stories, but have faced significant difficulties that have prevented opportunities like higher education, leading to long periods of self-instructed study. Financial and class barriers, as well as general life experience as a gay, disabled, Roma man, have made believing in my writing a difficult prospect. Working with my mentor, Jake Arnott, has been incredible and eye-opening in so many ways. His mentorship has not only given me invaluable, actionable advice to sharpen the teeth of Vicious Young Things, but has genuinely helped me realise that my voice isn’t just good enough, it might also be an important one, too.’
Polly Peckham
Polly was awarded a place on our Breakthrough Mentoring Programme for LGBTQIA+ Writers. Polly is being mentored by Laura Kay.
Bio
Polly Peckham is a writer and aspiring translator from the New Forest. She started writing at the age of thirteen after falling in love with historical fiction and has never looked back. Her influences include Eva Ibbotson, Michael Cunningham and Penelope Lively. When not writing, she enjoys reading, knitting, and watching Taiwanese dramas. She is currently working on a BA in Language Studies at the Open University.
Polly’s book
Within the confines of a decaying country house in the 1930s, seventeen year old Sibyl and Celia fall in love.
When Sibyl’s older brother invites his Oxford friend, Hugh, to stay for the holidays, Sibyl and Cella’s intimate world starts to expand, and they realise that love isn’t as simple as it seems. Soon fate forces them apart – but their lives remain entwined by shared memories and many iterations of love.
The Marrying Kind is an upmarket historical novel exploring family, sexuality and womanhood over sixty years of the twentieth century.
- ‘I am incredibly grateful to be working with my mentor in shaping my novel and bringing out the story I really want to tell. The programme has also given me the opportunity to work on my novel without having to worry about the physical barriers that often come up as a wheelchair-user. It makes the process of writing a novel feel far less daunting!’
Lucia Saez Valle
Lucia was awarded a place on our Breakthrough Mentoring Programme for Disabled Writers. Lucia is being mentored by Nydia Hetherington.
Bio
Lucia Saez Valle is a writer with a background in psychology from Trinity College Dublin. Her work explores the emotional architectures of obsession, care, and identity, with particular attention to the lived experience of disability. As a wheelchair user, she is committed to portraying disabled characters with depth, complexity, and interior life. Her fiction blends psychological nuance with literary precision, examining the fragile boundaries between love, obligation, and selfhood. She is currently developing her debut novel as part of the Breakthrough Mentoring Programme for Disabled Writers.
Lucia's book
Lucia’s novel follows two sisters living on opposite sides of the world, each quietly collapsing in ways the other cannot see. In Los Angeles, the younger sister – newly independent and working as a screenwriting assistant – becomes entangled in a parasocial attachment to a man she works for, a desire shaped by loneliness, misperception and a longing to be recognised. In London, her older sister unravels within a controlling relationship, her internalised ableism and fear of irrelevance driving her into her own obsessive fixation: the need to monitor and 'protect' her sister from afar. As both women drift toward different but equally destabilising misunderstandings, the novel explores distance, embodiment, and the fragile nature of intimacy between siblings.
- 'Being selected for the Breakthrough Mentoring Programme feels like a rare permission to take my work seriously; not just as something I do privately, but as something that deserves guidance, time, and ambition. As a disabled writer, spaces that genuinely nurture complexity rather than reduce it are still too few, and this programme offers the kind of thoughtful support I’ve long hoped for. I’m grateful for the chance to develop a novel that speaks to the nuances of embodiment, sisterhood, and emotional misalignment, and to work with a mentor who can help me shape those ideas with more precision and courage. This opportunity feels like a turning point in my writing life.'
Sonji Shah
Sonji was awarded a place on our Breakthrough Mentoring Programme for LGBTQIA+ Writers. Sonji is being mentored by Julia Armfield.
Bio
Sonji Shah is a writer and researcher based in London. Their writing has been published in Elemental: Water, Textured, SkinDeep, Where the Leaves Fall, BadForm and Transcodiert. They spend their time writing short stories, working on a PhD in geologic speculative fiction and planetary ethics, and facilitating workshops. In addition to receiving the Curtis Brown Creative mentorship, this year their writing has also been recognised by Writing Our Legacy’s Talent Development Programme and the Environmental Writing Competition at the Rachel Carson Center (Photo credit: Dhwani).
Sonji’s book
Sonji is currently working on speculative short stories that reflect life under environmental collapse, fascist regimes, and neoliberal culture. Realism slips into the otherworldly and the surreal, unravelling relationships to self and other creatures. The protagonists are often outsiders to society, including an apprehensive recluse, a formerly incarcerated man, an insomniac, a stone, a closeted mermaid, a trans vampire, a mother on the run. With an underlying thread of cognitive dissonance and the eerie everyday, the stories are driven by the characters’ trial and error to make sense of the worlds around them.
- ‘The Breakthrough Mentoring Programme has been an amazing push forward for my writing, both in terms of skills and confidence. Having read Julia’s work before, I was so excited that she’d be my mentor. I’ve gotten invaluable, detailed feedback and I’m learning to trust my writing voice. Julia’s encouragement has helped me sharpen my stories in tone and plot, and it has given me the confidence to start writing on a longer form project I’ve been dreaming of.’
Anna Wood
Anna was awarded a place on our Breakthrough Mentoring Programme for Disabled Writers. Anna is being mentored by Polly Aitken.
Bio
Anna Wood is an academic, who has recently discovered a love of nature watching, nature writing and nature photography. Her background is in Physics, but her career ended when ME/CFS tightened its grip, leaving her mostly housebound. She eventually forged a new path through an online MSc in e-learning and is now a (very part time) Physics education researcher at the University of Edinburgh. Whenever possible, she can be found either in her small garden photographing birds, butterflies and insects, or writing about her encounters with the wildlife there. She lives with her husband on a quiet street in Glasgow.
Anna’s book
Anna’s book, provisionally named The Call of the Dunnock, is about discovering the wild world in her small, suburban, Glasgow garden, while coming to terms with a chronic illness. It weaves stories of common but often overlooked creatures, such as the dunnock and its complicated sex life, the fox burying a chicken leg in her herb bed, the ravens nesting on a disused water tower, with her own story of becoming housebound, of the cycle of grief and acceptance, of time slipping through her fingers, and of her growing connection to nature.
- 'I am absolutely blown away to have been awarded a place on the breakthrough mentoring scheme. I feel I am still very new to nature writing and this has given me the confidence to keep going, and to keep learning. I am delighted to be working with Polly Atkin whose work I admire so much, and am excited to see where this journey takes me. To be able to work with someone who also has experience of illness and disability makes this particularly special.'
Scholarship students
Tammie Ash
Tammie was awarded the Breakthrough Scholarship for Crime & Thriller Writers of Colour.
Bio
Tammie is a writer and creative producer from Bradford. She trained and worked as a civil and structural engineer specialising in bridges. She then spent five years working in TV development and production on reality, factual-entertainment and documentary programmes for the BBC, YouTube, Channel 4, Sky and Discovery.
In 2021, she won a place on A Writing Chance, a programme for underrepresented writers set up by Michael Sheen and New Writing North. In 2025, she won the Northern Promise TLC Northern Writers’ Award, won the Stacey Halls Bursary to attend an Arvon retreat and was shortlisted for the Sian Meades-Williams New Directions Award.
Tammie’s book
Tammie is writing a contemporary satire thriller set in Yorkshire led by two working-class women of colour.
- ‘I don’t have any creative academic qualifications, I’d not had any experience in writing fiction before and there’s a big stereotype that engineers can’t write, so being chosen as a Breakthrough Scholar gave me the world of confidence to just go ahead and do it. It suddenly felt like I had permission and that my voice was worthy of being in the group.’
Mariam Abdel-Razek
Mariam was awarded the Breakthrough Novel-Writing Scholarship for Writers of Colour.
Bio
Mariam Abdel-Razek is a British-Egyptian writer, critic, and professional chef based in London. She holds an MA in Writing from the Royal College of Art in London, where she wrote on many and varied subjects, including but not limited to the etymology of eating and drinking, cassette tapes, video games, and the facsimiles of Emily Dickinson. Prior to her time at the RCA, Mariam graduated with a First in English from the University of Cambridge. There, she was a member of the Cambridge Footlights and mentored by the Women's Prize-winning author Ali Smith.Her writing for the stage has been performed in London's off-West End, Cambridge, and Edinburgh, and in 2020 she won the John Kinsella and Tracy Ryan Poetry Prize. Her writing and criticism has appeared in Vittles, Eaten, The Tonearm, and Line of Best Fit. She is currently working on her first novel.
Mariam’s book
Mother Nature’s Son follows Nora Mandeville, a rich, spoiled woman who is the product of a white mother from old money and an Arab father who no one talks about. Stuck in a trap of her own making – a marriage to her university boyfriend Bobby, who she doesn’t really like – she decides to run away from her own wedding reception. In a panic, she requests the help of Cass Jones, her long-time frenemy and one-time lover. They drive to the coast of Dover where, after several drinks, they make an agreement: to avoid Nora’s increasingly concerned husband, and her increasingly angry mother, the two will spend their summer — the hottest, most punishing summer the United Kingdom has ever seen — driving around the entire coast of the country, from John O’Groats to Land’s End. Matters become more complex, however, when Nora discovers she is pregnant with Bobby’s child.
- ‘This scholarship came at just the right time for me – I have been working on this novel for years and not getting far at all. I was just about ready to pack it in when I won this place like a bolt from the blue. Typically, writing is a lonely thing; this programme is not only a chance for me to hone my craft, but to build a community of people who care about it in the same way as I do. Most importantly, it has given me space amongst the constraints and obligations of finances and work to devote to something I’ve constantly worried isn’t quite worth the effort; that feeling has already begun to make way for more confidence in my writing. I’m grateful for and delighted by the opportunity.’
Oliver Bugg
Oliver was awarded the HW Fisher Novel-Writing Scholarship for Writers with Low Income.
Bio
Oliver is a British writer and gardener whose long-standing interest in ecology, conservationism and climbing are central to his novel. He was recently awarded the Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation New Voices Award and holds a master’s degree in Creative Writing from the University of Westminster. He spent much of his twenties abroad and is grateful to have called many places home. His latest adventure involved crewing a North Passage crossing from Gothenburg to Fort William as research for his novel.
Oliver’s book
Against his better judgement, Murdoch, an ageing and disillusioned sailor, agrees to take a spirited team of climbers out to Baffin Island, where a land of towering granite and midnight sun awaits. It is on this journey that Murdoch is given a new lease of life, one that tests his resilience and courage, rekindling his love for the sea and forcing him to come to terms with his past. Land of Water is a literary novel about polar exploration, climate change, friendship, sailing and the sea, but more than that, it is about the lengths to which people will go to find meaning in their lives.
- ‘I really had the most wonderful time and will be forever grateful to HW Fisher and CBC for giving me such a fruitful and rewarding opportunity. I leave the course not only with an encouraging vision for my novel-in-progress, but with a terrific cohort of bookmates and advisors, many of whom are fast becoming close friends. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had Charlotte Mendelson as our tutor, not only for her erudite and insightful teachings, but for the zany and charming way that she presided over our classes. She really encouraged a sense of solidarity within our group, which is proving to be a real boon as we go forward, armed with insider knowledge and fortified dreams of one day seeing our novels in print!’
Cecil Fenn
Cecil was awarded the Breakthrough Novel-Writing Scholarship.
Bio
Originally from New York City, Cecil Fenn spent his early adulthood touring the US with alternative bands and working in funeral homes. He's since settled down in the UK and retrained as a lighting designer for theatre and live events. Even though he’s left behind the death care industry, his writing continues to centre grief and the body. In addition to taking part in Curtis Brown’s 3-month novel course, Cecil has attended Tin House Summer Workshop and Granta’s short fiction course. His writing has been shortlisted for the Aurora Prize and appeared in The Dread Machine, Scrawl Place, Canthius, and other literary journals. In 2019, he was a writer-in-residence at the Islington Pride and ruckus! archives. His contemporary gothic novel The Restorative Artist will be published by Lucent Dreaming in 2026.
Cecil’s book
Low Noise follows psychiatrist and disgraced criminal profiler Per Kristiansen’s descent into the neon underbelly of New York’s dark music scene to stop a series of occult murders. When forensic evidence connects his musician boyfriend to the crimes, Per is forced into a race with his former FBI unit as he attempts to implicate another killer before they can arrest the man he loves. Per’s rationality and morality are put to the test by the world of cursed cassette tapes and analog alchemy he must navigate in search of the truth. Will he accept the facts that say the man he loves is a murderer? Or will his encounters with the unexplainable call everything he believes about himself, justice, love, and even reality into question? Blending horror and thriller genres, Low Noise is a cinematic dive into the spiritual and mundane terrors behind music and the mind.
- ‘Receiving a Breakthrough Scholarship to study on Curtis Brown Creative’s 3-month novel course renewed my commitment to writing as both a craft and a career. Christie Watson’s workshop was a space that invited my cohort and I to connect with our intuitions and creativity, while also introducing us to a host of practical and critical techniques. The scholarship allowed me to commit time I otherwise couldn’t have given to my writing, and the process of sharing work with my wonderful classmates helped engage critical faculties that have been hugely helpful to my own writing as well as in the workshop environment. This time spent immersed with others with a passion for storytelling, the creative friendships I have made, and the industry insights and support Curtis Brown Creative have offered, made the process of writing and publishing a novel finally feel navigable. I can’t overstate how important it has been to my confidence and my process.’
Louis Glazzard
Louis was awarded the Breakthrough Novel-Writing Scholarship for Writers with Low Income.
Bio
Louis Glazzard is a working-class writer currently based in Manchester. His poetry has been published by Pan Macmillan, Untitled Voices and broadcasted on BBC Arts and BBC Radio 6. He was recently Writer in residence for Melbourne City of Literature and Geelong Regional Libraries. His prose and non-fiction in progress have also been longlisted and shortlisted for schemes and awards. In 2025, he was the recipient of an Arts Council Grant DYCP grant and runs Coffee and Poems Club in Manchester.
Louis’ book
Louis is currently working on a literary horror novel set in a claustrophobic spinning class. It’s a very loose retelling of Wagner’s cult classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The narrator is obsessed with a magnetic spin instructor and he wants to steal his life, partly as revenge for a previous rejection. It’s a story of obsession, with an unhinged narrator.
Louis started working on the novel because he's always been fascinated by how feelings of shame can morph into something darker, especially within a society increasingly obsessed with perfection. It also looks at how masculinity purism can distort identity and fuel unhealthy fixations, particularly when it comes to body image.
- ‘Curtis Brown Creative have been so supportive of my writing career so far. I applied a couple of years ago for a place with a different novel I was drafting and didn’t make progress. Even then though, the feedback was so encouraging. I got the opportunity to attend their Pitch Morning recently and the agent and team I met were so supportive, so it’s extra special to be offered this place via the Breakthrough scheme. As a gay working-class writer, there sometimes feels like this invisible expectation to write stories a certain way, but I don’t want to do that. I want to explore speculative and horror worlds because it's more fun and challenging for me. When I started writing this story, I was terrified, but I also had so much fun. I’m starting to think that might be where the magic is, because being given this place is validation that I’m pushing myself in the right direction. On my journey so far, there has been support along the way, but I couldn’t afford a place on a course like this out of my own pocket. Knowing that your work needs this kind of support and feedback can make things feel inaccessible, but now I’m finally getting it from the generosity of Curtis Brown Creative, I’m honestly full of endless gratitude.’
Angela Jones
Angela was awarded the Breakthrough Scholarship for TV Screenwriters of Colour.
Bio
Angela Mercy Jones is a British–Malawian actor and writer raised in the Fenlands. Shaped by the region’s quiet mysticism – its flat, monotonous terrain and its strange surreal beauty – she developed an early reverence for stories found in stillness; 'The kind of stories that feel so quiet you could almost miss them if you weren’t paying attention.'
After studying acting at LAMDA, she spent her early career working across theatre and film. Fake Windows is her first venture into screenwriting: a lyrical, intimate piece rooted in memory and the landscapes that raised her.
Angela's TV drama serial
Fake Windows is an intergenerational story between mother and daughter about a house that is more of a time capsule than a home. It explores memory, community, and how the stories we tell ourselves about the past can become both a refuge and ruin.
When a falling piece of plaster hits Tawona on the head, it alerts the council to her abandoned childhood home. Determined to preserve the only place that serves as a connection between her and her mum, she faces a series of hurdles, both personal and bureaucratic.
Throughout this journey, the crumbling house begins to reveal memories to her that she has long kept hidden. Fake Windows is a lyrical, intimate drama infused with elements of magical realism.
- 'Writing feels so deeply personal, and I am new to sharing my work. When you put parts of yourself down into words you are faced with the possibility that you may not be understood or accepted. But to have my words not only accepted but recognised in this way feels incredibly affirming. It has given me a whole lot of confidence in my writing, and I am so excited to learn so much through this process.'
A.C. Kumar
A.C. Kumar was awarded the Breakthrough YA & Children's Fiction Scholarship for Writers of Colour.
Bio
A.C. Kumar is a British-Sri Lankan writer born and raised in East London. This is where she developed an early love for stories, humour and the beautifully chaotic people who surrounded her. After years developing TV formats for major UK broadcasters, Abby is bringing the same instinct for character, timing and slightly unhinged comedic energy to her fiction – but with far more emotional honesty and far fewer notes from her managers.
She’s passionate about telling stories that centre complex girls, messy feelings and the hidden worlds simmering beneath everyday life. Growing up in one of the most diverse places in the world, Abby is driven to reflect the real London she knows. Layered. Multicultural. And full of accents from every corner of the globe. Her work aims to honour the people and communities who shaped her, telling authentic stories across backgrounds with heart and humour.
A.C. Kumar's book
The Not-So-Ordinary Girls is a YA novel about a girl whose life cracks open the moment she realises the world adults present to you is almost never the real one. Sixteen-year-old Uma Vega is stuck in a strange limbo, the house that smells like bleach, a mother who’s trying not to break and a father who vanished ‘dead’ under circumstances no one will properly explain. When small, unsettling things begin tugging at her attention – the wrong person at the door, a symbol where it shouldn’t be, a feeling she just can’t shake – Uma is forced to confront the possibility that she isn’t imagining the weirdness at all.
It’s a story about grief disguised as sarcasm, unexpected friendships and what happens when an ordinary teenager discovers she is anything but. It’s messy, heartfelt and slightly unhinged . . . just like being sixteen.
- 'Winning a place in the Breakthrough Space feels like someone finally grabbed me by the shoulders and said, ‘Stop doubting yourself – you can actually do this.’ This opportunity means killer guidance, a strong community and the gentle professional nudge I clearly needed. Mostly, it feels like permission to tell the stories I never saw growing up. Stories that were funny, sharp-edged and rooted in the world I grew up in. I’m finally stepping into the writer I want to be . . . someone who writes for the girl I used to be – and for every reader who needs to feel seen.'
Jude Marwa
Jude was awarded the Breakthrough Scholarship for Memoir Writers with Low Income.
Bio
Jude Marwa lives in Brighton. After recovering from a long-term critical illness, she decided to give up teaching and follow her dream of working in the world of books. She was lucky enough to be offered the role of senior assistant to Caroline Michel at Peters Fraser Dunlop where she has just done her first book deal with Bloomsbury for a project called Letters To Our Sons by Stephen Graham and Orly Klein. She has recently finished studying Wyl Menmuir’s Memoir and Narrative Non-Fiction course, for which she was awarded a scholarship place, and has previously completed Cathy Rentzenbrink’s memoir course with Curtis Brown Creative. She has had two short stories published in different anthologies by Bradt Travel Guides, one of which was re-selected for a collection of the judges’ favourite 20 stories from the last 20 years. She has also been confirmed as one of a team of writers working with Matriarch Productions for a new limited series. She writes around her job, usually on the early morning train to work.
Jude’s book
In 1974, two weeks before she was born, Jude’s father was involved in an explosion in Belfast. Only just surviving, he was left with severe injuries, mostly to his face. Fifty years later, long after he had passed away, Jude returned to the site of the bomb to meet with those responsible for the blast that changed her family’s life to learn about the events that led to it, to reconcile and make peace. Face to Face is the extraordinary journey of a daughter’s search for truth. Interweaving memoir with history this book shines a light on decades of lies. Restoring beliefs, healing wounds and filling in the missing pieces this is a story of hope, courage and forgiveness.
- ‘Being awarded a scholarship place on the Curtis Brown memoir and non-fiction writing course was a wonderfully productive message of validation that gave me the boost I needed to keep writing. The feedback I got each week made me believe in the stronger aspects of my writing alongside truly helping me develop the weaker ones. The scholarship came at a time when I would not have been able to fund it myself, due to illness so I was beyond excited to hear I had a scholarship place. Through the course I met some incredible writers who I am now part of a beautiful writing group with. Most of all, it helped me discover the story I really wanted to tell. I am so grateful that I was awarded this place, for the writing lessons I learnt, the people I met and the determination I now have to be a finisher. Thank you Wyl and all my course mates, you are the best.’
Maria Meehan
Maria was awarded the Breakthrough Scholarship for Fantasy Writers with Low Income.
Bio
Maria is an illustrator who lives in London. She was brought up by three women, who loved nothing better than to spin straw truths into golden tales. Whilst studying for her MA in Illustration, she began researching the fairy tales and folklore her grandmothers had told her as a child, leading her to write her own twisted tales and fragile stories, each with a little bit of her family’s history nestled inside. She is currently working on a novel that explores themes of feminine power, witches, and folkloric magic.
Maria’s book
The Daughters of Yagaties the silver yarns of Slavic folklore around the iron bones of womankind, places them in a mortar, grinds them fine with a pestle, and casts the dust as a dark fantasy spell.
It follows three women, Lada, Vana and Zorya, who embody womanhood at its most potent: Mother, Maiden, Crone. Each is accused of being a witch and cursed at the point of death to carry one-third of the power that the ancient Witch, Baba Yaga, once held alone. Zorya, Lada and Vana hold the threads of past, present and future and must learn to intwine their powers. For Koschei the Deathless seeks their demise. Luring the youngest witch, Vana, away from her coven, he fills her head with distorted perceptions that turn her against her sisters, pulling apart the very tapestry that gives them their power.
- ‘Finding out that I had been selected for the fantasy writers’ scholarship was like being gifted a magic well, but instead of magic inside, there were words. So many words. And, more surprisingly, people. I’ve always found writing to be a lonely space, and I have previously struggled with confidence issues, which meant I was worried about sharing my writing. The peer critique process has been eye-opening and beyond valuable as an experience. I’ve looked forward to reading every submission and gobbled up everyone’s words of advice. Lucy Holland has been a brilliant tutor; she has a way of asking thought-provoking questions that make you hone in on the reasons why you write a story the way you do. The course has made my writing sharper, brighter and more intrinsically me. More importantly, it has changed, not just my writing, but also my belief in myself as a writer.’
Dylan Patsanza
Dylan was awarded the Breakthrough Novel-Writing Scholarship for Writers of Colour.
Bio
Dylan Patsanza is a British writer, poet, and Bookseller. His days are spent surrounded by books, furiously writing, reading or daydreaming about magical worlds. He has undertaken various writing courses at Goldsmiths University of London, City Lit and has earned a diploma in Creative Writing from Oxford University.
As a panellist for the 2025 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and a judge for the 2025/2026 #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize, Dylan is committed to championing new literary voices from underrepresented backgrounds within the publishing industry. His own writings focus on Black and Queer narratives and grapple with how a sense of belonging can be achieved in various states of displacement, be that geographical or emotional. He can often be found performing poems at various open mic nights around London and his poetry has appeared in Ragaire Literary Magazine.
Dylan’s book
Constance and Rupert is a historical fantasy novel set in a gothic rendering of Victorian England. As the 19th century dips into its closing quarter, Britain is steeped in a foreboding sense of unease as the winds whistle with the song of change.
Constance is an industrious and devilishly clever young Black woman who is one of the few privy to the world of the Occult. When her father goes missing, she—along with her reluctant sidekick Rupert (a 17th century earl whose soul she has trapped in a shrunken skull)—begin investigating a series of supernatural catastrophes that have sprung up across London. As a dark web of conspiracy is uncovered and the mystery of her father’s disappearance deepens, the duo realise they must look to the past if they wish to better understand the crisis of their present.
- ‘I am so honoured to have received a scholarship to attend Laura Barnett’s Writing Your Novel course. Not only has it afforded me the chance to learn and develop invaluable skills which I will cherish for the rest of my career as a writer, but it has also given me a huge boost in confidence. Being a writer is a daunting and lonely pursuit, when I’m hunched over my laptop at 2am trying to find the right way to describe a metropolitan vista or a shrunken skull’s hair, a voice will often whisper in my mind, does any of this really matter? And now, infused with the knowledge that my words have worth, I can confidently turn back to that voice and say yes, yes it does matter. I’ll be forever grateful to the CBC team for this incredible opportunity.’
Amelia Roberts
Amelia was awarded a Breakthrough place on our Edit & Pitch Your Novel– Advanced course.
Bio
Amelia is a disabled writer and freelance editor from Brighton. She has a PhD from the University of Sussex, with a thesis on same-sex desire and intimacy in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables and its adaptations, including fanwork. Her writing has been shortlisted for Myriad Editions’ First Drafts Competition, The Literary Consultancy’s 2022 Scholarship, Aesthetica Magazine’s Creative Writing Award, I Am In Print’s I Am Writing (Sci-Fi/Fantasy) competition, and Brighton Book Festival’s Emerging Authors Showcase, among others. Her work has been published in anthologies through the Brighton Prize (2016) and Aesthetica (2025), as well as in Wishbone Words Magazine (November 2025).
Amelia’s book
An old house in Cornwall, an attic that slips in time. The Sleeper, bound to the attic for a century, and Rio, living in the house below, are desperate to find ways to be together against the devastating supernatural consequences arising whenever the Sleeper tries to leave the attic. One for Sorrow is a speculative fiction novel for adults spanning World War One through to the present day. Focusing on queer hope and joy, it also explores the parts of our lives that are sacrificed due to systemic hostility toward the marginalised, which is depicted literally through the main characters and symbolically through the fantastical elements of the Sleeper’s circumstances.
- ‘Ironically, I’m not sure I can put into words what being awarded a place on this CBC course through the Breakthrough programme means to me. I was diagnosed with ME/CFS 21 years ago, when I was 11, and I’ve always felt like I have less time than most people; though I’ve found solace in writing my whole life, when I have been well enough to work, I’ve always had to prioritise trying to earn a living – my PhD took eight years to complete, instead of four, because I couldn’t put it first. This course, in addition to everything I’m learning about craft and industry from the brilliant authors and editors involved, and the community I’ve found in the wonderful writers taking the course alongside me, feels like permission to shift focus, prioritise my writing, and take myself seriously as a writer. It’s absolutely magic and I’m grateful beyond words.’
Cameron Robertson
Cameron was awarded the UTA Foundation Scholarship for TV Screenwriters with Low Income.
Bio
Cameron Robertson is an actor, screenwriter and entrepreneur from the Scottish Highlands currently studying at The National Film & Television School. At 17 years old, Cameron began freelancing as a VFX artist through the duration of his VFX Bachelor’s degree, in which he graduated with a First class honours. Despite this being his work by trade, Cameron’s long-term career aspirations have always been to work as a multi-disciplinary actor and writer. In 2020, Cameron was the finalist in the BFIxBAFTA ScreenLab contest, with his final short film script currently being developed into feature-length and pitch-ready in the coming months. Cameron has also been accepted into The National Youth Theatre and Identity School of Acting, and is balancing his studies whilst developing and shopping three spec scripts. His work typically focused on original IP with franchise potential in the drama/horror/thriller genre, along with a strong interest and passion for Sci-Fi.
Cameron's TV drama serial
Cameron is currently working on Precepts, a 60 minute drama/thriller with 8 episodes per season. The story follows Rosie, a high school senior eager to leave her remote village of Crosswood despite mounting pressure from both parents and villagers to stay. However, after the unexpected and suspicious death of a new villager in town she uncovers a chilling conspiracy: the first generation of villagers in Crosswood are serial killers who've escaped the law, all relocated from around the world to live in exile for unknown reasons. After this discovery, Rosie makes a failed attempt to escape the village. Not able to trust anyone – even her own parents – she secretly devises an escape plan for herself, her brother and as many children as she can to escape from the village, and at the same time try to discover the people who have been pulling the strings from afar.
- 'Curtis Brown’s Writing TV Drama course is the first writing program I’ve ever been a part of, and if not for the scholarship, I wouldn’t have been able to study on the course at all. In just 12 weeks, I progressed significantly in my writing ability, understanding of theory, as well as giving/receiving notes – all crucial skills a writer must have. Since graduating, I’ve been able to refine my current slate of projects which has opened up opportunities with producers, commissioners and agents. I hope that this scholarship continues to support and empower writers from any background, and Curtis Brown’s unique angle of being a literary agency as well as an educator taught me how I can best pivot myself as a writer for representation.'
Sereena
Sereena was awarded the HW Fisher Novel-Writing Scholarship for Writers of Colour.
Bio
Sereena is a British-Indian writer and a recipient of the HW Fisher scholarship from Curtis Brown Creative. Her work explores fractured identity, socially unacceptable breakdowns, and the mess of modernity. Sereena studied Psychology at UCL before working in Media Rights at the talent agency ICM Partners (now CAA). Her gender-swapping screenplay won The Bitch List, and she worked on two comedy feature films for 20th Century Fox. Her manuscript, One Way Trips, is a dark comedy about identity and illness and has won prizes from Spread The Word and The Literary Consultancy.
Sereena’s book
Mona has just been unfairly fired and then abruptly dumped. When life collapses, she does what any reasonable person would and books a big holiday designed to end in death. She uses One Way Trips, a luxury travel agency offering adventures so daring you won’t need a return ticket. But between a botched ‘Death by Hypothermia’ in Iceland, a mishap with a King Cobra in India, and an inconvenient crush along the way, Mona keeps surviving her designer deaths, forcing her to confront the life she’s so desperate to escape.
- 'I am eternally grateful for getting this chance to learn from my incomparable tutor, Charlotte Mendelson, and the fantastic cohort of fellow writers in my course. The opportunity to give and receive weekly feedback on our writing has helped me to hone my craft and improve my manuscript tenfold. Learning from industry experts, who kindly gave us their time and energy, has given me a deeper insight into the world of publishing. I am thankful to everyone at HW Fisher and Curtis Brown who made this programme possible. Without it, I would not have access to the advice and support that will be invaluable as I begin the journey towards publication.'
Zoë Wilkinson
Zoë Wilkinson was awarded the Breakthrough Novel-Writing Scholarship for Writers of Colour.
Bio
Zoë Wilkinson (b. 1999) is a British-Caribbean artist and writer. Born and raised in the UK, Wilkinson’s practice endeavours to create an imagined homeland between Guyana and Britain. Using family photographs, autofiction and tropical greenhouses, she makes her world tangible through charcoal, paint and words. Drawing from an academic background in philosophy, Wilkinson uses Caribbean folklore to reinterpret the gothic beyond the western canon.
Zoë has just completed her MA in Painting from The Royal College of Art for which she was grateful to benefit from the Sir Frank Bowling Scholarship. In 2026 she will be embarking on a three month Arts Council funded residency to visit Guyana for the first time where she hopes to finish her first book.
Zoë’s book
Drowning in Postcolonial Blue explores themes of homeland, coming of age and the Caribbean Gothic. It centres around Cora, a mixed British and Indo-Guyanese student. When Cora moves into a mysterious house which turns out to be haunted by her doppelgänger, she is forced to confront the heritage that she has been repressing. The novel unfolds against the inhospitable background of an overwhelmingly white University where Cora feels uncomfortable in her brown skin. Over the course of the book, Cora must navigate the complicated relationships she has developed at university and her own identity. The sea plays an important part in the book by acting as a liminal space between the Caribbean and Britain which eases her feelings of dissonance towards her mixed heritage.
- 'Winning a scholarship on the Breakthrough Writers of Colour programme transformed my approach to writing. The feedback I received from my tutor Christopher Wakling and the amazing group of writers has been invaluable to the way I approach writing. The course helped me turn my novel idea from a messy draft to a story with characters I believed in and a journey I am excited to follow. Being part of the scholarship programme meant I was able to develop my novel as an MA student alongside my painting course. I see both my writing and art as fundamentally linked and the opportunity to develop these skills in tandem allowed me to explore this symbiotic relationship. I couldn’t be more grateful to Curtis Brown Creative for this opportunity. As a breakthrough scholar alumni, I was recently offered a place on the 8 month Finish Your Novel course, which I am now thoroughly enjoying.'
R. X. Zhang
R. X. Zhang was awarded the Breakthrough Novel-Writing Scholarship for Writers of Colour.
Bio
R. X. Zhang is an exophonic writer based in London. Born and raised in China, she studied English and comparative literature in the US and the UK. Her debut short story is forthcoming in Colorado Review. Her novel-in-progress, supported by the Curtis Brown Creative Breakthrough Scholarship, was longlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2025. She is an alumna of the HarperCollins Author Academy and the Faber Academy. Instagram: @zhang_r_x_
R. X. Zhang’s book
Confessions of an Alien is a literary thriller for anyone who has been an outsider – an alien in some sense.
A young Chinese woman marries an English man she cannot love in order to escape from her formidable, superstitious mother. She starts a new life in an overwhelmingly white town, yet little does she know that her nightmare has just begun. By a twist of fate, she commits a crime of passion, which pulls her into a world of chaos. Will she find a way out? At what cost?
- 'I remember the day I received the Breakthrough Scholarship. The news was delivered through a phone call. I felt like a character in some old movie, whose life was changed by one phone call. I thought, this moment, at 16:16 on a winter’s afternoon, was when my writing career began. I sound dramatic. All this is to say that the Breakthrough Scholarship was the first ‘yes’ I received, and it arrived at a time when I needed it the most. I needed someone to tell me whether there was anything worthwhile in what I had been doing. The Breakthrough Scholarship gave me an answer, and so much more.'
About Breakthrough
The Breakthrough Writers' Programme is funded by The Curtis Brown Group and our valued partners. We are currently open for applications to scholarship opportunities running in early 2026.