Celebrating 250 students with publishing deals

We are thrilled to reach the milestone of over 250 former students gaining commercial publishing deals.

250th student to gain publication

Our 250th student to sign a book deal is Manish Chauhan, who studied on our flagship London-based Writing Your Novel course.

Manish’s debut novel Belgrave Road and debut short story collection were sold by Curtis Brown agent Gordon Wise to Louisa Joyner at Faber in an exciting deal, following on from the shortlisting of Manish’s short story ‘Pieces’ for the BBC National Short Story Award in 2024. Belgrave Road is a classic tale of star-crossed love with a contemporary twist, set in Manish’s hometown of Leicester. The novel, which follows Mira, newly arrived in Britain from India after an arranged marriage to Rajiv, is slated for publication in spring 2026.

Anna Davis, Founder & Managing Director

'Back in 2011 when we welcomed our first students into the Curtis Brown boardroom, I could never have dreamed of where we’d be today. 2025 has started for us with former student Jennie Godfrey’s debut novel, The List of Suspicious Things, hitting number 1 in paperback fiction – and our amazing alumna Bonnie Garmus has just become a Nielsen Platinum award-winner, with more than a million sales of Lessons in Chemistry. To now be celebrating our 250th student to gain a book deal is wonderful icing on the cake. Here’s to the next 250!'

Gordon Wise, Curtis Brown Literary Agent

'Having been on the agenting team at Curtis Brown for 20 years now, I’ve been involved in CBC since its very point of inception, and the thrill of having this creative hub under our roof never fades. I’ve been lucky enough to take on representation of four great writers over the years, and for Manish’s two-book deal with Faber to fall just as CBC hit this milestone is a particular delight.'

Manish Chauhan, 250th student with book deal

‘I have found both CBC courses I completed (the three-month Writing Your Novel course and the screenwriting course) to be hugely interesting and beneficial. Being able to have my writing workshopped by such a generous group of teachers and students was invaluable in helping build objectivity, something I feel is crucial for all writers. The novel I began to write on the course is the one that will be published next year. Further, I am still in touch with many of the students I met on the courses and some of us have formed a writing group which has been going ever since we completed the course some years ago.’

My Path to Publication

To celebrate this landmark moment, we hosted a free online ‘My Path to Publication’ webinar for budding writers.

Watch back this inspiring and informative event!

Our Founder and Managing Director, Anna Davis, chaired this special event, featuring Manish Chauhan and Gordon Wise as speakers. The panel was completed by fellow CBC alumna Lucy Rose, author of the Sunday Times bestselling debut The Lamb, and her publisher Alexa von Hirschberg, Publishing Director at W&N.

This webinar demystifies the journey from pitching to an agent to working with a publisher. Manish and Lucy, who was mentored through our Breakthrough Writers’ Programme of free opportunities for writers from under-represented backgrounds, also shared their insights into the writing process.

Watch now