Pandora Sykes’ Pick Of New Writers To Read Now
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4 hours ago
Eight emerging literary voices
Looking for new voices on the literary scene? Pandora Sykes chooses eight new authors to know – and read next.
8 Up & Coming Authors To Know
1. Kaveh Akbar
The Iranian-American’s debut novel, Martyr!, landed with a bang when it came out earlier this year – and not just because of the rare use of an exclamation mark in the title. A bold, lyrical and deeply felt book about immigration, art, trauma, masculinity, queer love, America and terrorism, Martyr! is the story of a death-fixated poet named Cyrus, who travels from the mid-west to New York, to interview a dying artist and fellow Iranian immigrant, Orkideh – in the hope that she may unlock the writer within him. Akbar is an electric new writer in fiction.
2. Saba Sams
Already a winner of the BBC National Short Story Award and one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists for 2023, British writer Sams is on a well-deserved ascent after the publication of her astonishing short story collection, Send Nudes, in 2022. Her debut novel, Gunk, is a gear-change, but no less impactful. Jules is working in her ex-husband’s Brighton nightclub, when a young barmaid, Nim, goes missing – less than 24 hours after she gives birth. With Nim’s newborn now in her care, Jules must reckon with her friend’s disappearance, her longing for motherhood (now by proxy) and her life up until now.
Published 8 May 2025
3. Ingvild Rishøi
If you liked A Man Called Ove, or Claire Keegan’s writing, Rishøi’s charming little novel, Brightly Shining – newly translated into English – is for you: one of those deceptively simple books that contains deep wells of emotion and meaning. It’s about Ronja and Melissa, who take over their father’s job selling Christmas trees, as he struggles with alcoholism. With fans like Douglas Stuart (who calls it ‘magic’ and ‘charming’) and Claire Messud (‘the power of a classic’), and a film adaptation in the works, Rishøi is set to be as beloved here as she is in her native Norway.
4. Marni Appleton
The cover – a hotdog squished into a pulp by a heavy hand – is reason alone to pick up British writer Marni Appleton’s debut short story collection, I Hope You’re Happy. She writes with incisiveness and raw honesty, covering the subjects of sex, social media and ambition. These are stories of desire and yearning in the 21st century: of indecision, anxiety and intimacy. If you’re a fan of short stories, add this biting, youthful collection to your TBR pile (complete with Rooney-esque lack of speech marks).
5. Anthony Shapland
A writer and artist based in Cardiff. Shapland’s debut, A Room Above a Shop, is a tender, spare and wrenchingly emotional novel, about the tentative romance between two men in the Valleys in the late 1980s, when Section 28 and the AIDS crisis dominated the news. Raised in working class, aggressively heterosexual rural Wales, B and M, working side by side in M’s family ironmongery business, must tentatively unlearn their fears and shed their performances, in order to be together. Shapland writes in short paragraphs – sometimes even sentences – giving his work a shape-shifting quality where unspoken emotions linger underneath the surface.
6. Marianna Spring
The BBC’s first disinformation expert (and social media correspondent), Spring is an extraordinarily brave young woman: writing about conspiracy theories, disinformation and fake news online means that, aged just 28, she receives more abusive messages than anyone else at the BBC. The host of a podcast about online trolling, as well as a regular contributor to Panorama, she has now written her first book, Conspiracyland: Trolls, True Believers and the New Information War. ‘Truth’ is a contested modern value, but Spring remains undaunted. Her book is not an easy read, but it is a fascinating, vital, well-written one.
7. Coco Mellors
New Yorker Coco Mellors is a BookTok success story, after her 2022 novel Cleopatra & Frankenstein – about a fairytale romance gone sour – went viral. Her second novel, Blue Sisters, about three sisters grappling with the grief of a fourth sister’s death, was published earlier this year and was an instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller. Mellors is interested in the acute emotional detail of relationships – both familial and romantic – and addiction. Her storytelling is both sprawling and intimate, and rich with description, while her beautifully painted covers are made for gifting.
8. Juhea Kim
The author of an acclaimed 2021 novel, Beasts of a Little Land, and a new book, City of Night Birds, Korean-American Kim’s work is ambitious, elegant and deeply intellectual. While her first novel sweeps across five decades of Korean history, her latest work is more intimate, relocating to Russia (Kim’s biggest influence is Tolstoy) and the blisteringly high octane world of ballet. Natalia, a once legendary prima ballerina who is now battling addiction, is considering a return to the stage – and reckoning with the trauma that would accompany her return. It’s a novel of passion, pain, politics and art, which shows the full breadth of Kim’s talent.
What Writers Read: 35 Writers on Their Favourite Book, edited by Pandora Sykes, is published by Bloomsbury and out in paperback now. £9.99, bookshop.org
