Judging the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize

November 9th 2021

Our Librarian Helen Rosser describes her experiences on the judging panel for this year's Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize.

In September this year I was lucky enough to be part of an online celebration which culminated in the announcement of Rachel Joyce as the winner of the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize – Best Published Novel category for Miss Benson’s Beetle.

Back in January, I was working in a public library which had just closed its doors due to another lockdown, when an opportunity to use my time productively popped into the library inbox. The Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize was looking for librarian volunteers to sit on a judging panel for the Best Published Novel category of their annual awards. It seemed like a great way to expand my knowledge of a genre I don’t usually gravitate towards, as well as an exciting chance to be involved in the inner workings of a literary prize. I decided to apply, and was delighted several weeks later to learn that I’d made it onto the panel.

The Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation who run the awards were helpful and supportive through the whole process, providing detailed criteria against which to judge submissions. Each panellist was allocated a selection of the submitted books, provided in eBook format. Altogether 14 novels were available to me to read in the period between late January and April, so I was happy that a major factor deemed important in the adventure genre is ‘unputdownability’! We were urged to look for riveting narratives that drew us in, and if we weren’t enjoying the book after 30 pages there was no need to struggle on – it obviously hadn’t done its job as a gripping adventure and we should put it aside and move on.  Whilst some titles were cast aside, I enjoyed a range of stories including spy thrillers, historical escapades, apocalyptic climate dystopias and contemporary on-the-run novels.

After reading and rating our allocated books, the next step was a get together of the judging panel to fight it out over whose favourites make it onto the long and short lists. Originally scheduled to be  at the offices of the Foundation in London, due to restrictions in place at the time this had to held as an online Zoom meeting. Whilst disappointing, it was still lovely to ‘meet’ librarians from across the country, and hear tales from different authorities about how services had been run through the pandemic, how customers and staff had been coping, and how libraries had shone through as places of support and cohesion for many communities. As well as just catching up on a bit of library gossip! Across the day, we began by rejecting books we’d enjoyed less, saving our fervour to advocate for our highlights. Whilst no one reads all the submissions, all submissions were read by at least 2 of the panel. I was delighted that 2 of my favourites made the longlist, (The Cold Millions by Jess Walter and The Glass Kingdom by Lawrence Osborne), and I came away with a string more titles I was dying to read from the shortlist.

We then went our separate ways and partook in the promotion of the awards through our libraries. It felt like a bit of a swizz knowing that the shortlist had already been chosen, but it was a great opportunity to introduce readers to new writers and everyone was thrilled that we as a library were involved in the process. A smaller panel of adventure experts judged the final winners from the shortlist we had created, alongside a public vote.

The culmination was the awards ceremony in September. This was due to be a glamourous in-person event in London, but again due to limitations on getting everyone in the same room it was held online. The awards are open to anyone writing in the English language, and have several categories including unpublished and children’s categories. An online event enabled the nominees, judges, publishers and writers from across the globe to participate. It was enthralling, and scrolling through to see who else was in attendance was very exciting. One of the children who won their category wasn’t in attendance due to it being the middle of the night in Australia where they are based, and therefore well past bedtime! Unpublished authors were all delighted to be given the platform and opportunity, and five of the writers were awarded a £1,000 bursary of bespoke editorial support from one of Wilbur Smith’s editors, donated by Bonnier Books UK. The overall winner in the published novel category was Rachel Joyce with Mrs Benson’s Beetle, receiving a £10,000 prize. The novel sees two women go in search of an undiscovered species of beetle. Niso Smith, founder, said: ‘The novels competing this year have been a beacon in challenging times, all of them portraying human strength. Miss Benson’s Beetle is a joyously humourous and deeply moving novel, which serves as a vital reminder that it’s always possible to make your life what you want it to be. Rachel’s yarn is truly magical and a life-affirming adventure. Congratulations!’

Taking part was a wonderful experience, teaching me about how book prizes work whilst expanding my knowledge and expectations of adventure writing. I’m hoping to participate again next year.

Find out more about the Wilbur Smith prize

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