A Night at the 2023 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize: Celebrating Literary Excellence

Last Wednesday, authors, publishers, agents, librarians, charities, book suppliers, and enthusiastic readers flocked to Stanfords Bookshop in London's Covent Garden for the highly anticipated 2023 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. It was a fun of meets and greets, celebration and admiration for the six exceptional authors who made it to the shortlist.

The event welcomed four of the shortlisted authors, including Paddy Crewe, Anthony McCarten, Priscilla Morris, and Emma Styles. Although Jenny Tinghui Zhang couldn't join us from the USA and Natasha Pulley was away from the UK, their achievements were celebrated alongside their fellow authors.

Georgina Brown, The Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation Manager, expressed gratitude to the authors, sponsors, and all involved in making the Prize a success. We also have to say thanks as it was Georgina who invited Soi Books down!

Helen Rosser, librarian at Peters Book Supplier and a member of the esteemed panel responsible for the shortlist, shared her insights and we got a great bunch of learnings from her, not only about the significance of adventure literature but the importance of the library ecosystem in the UK. Giles Kristian, the winner of the 2022 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, delivered an inspiring speech - we definitely need to read his winning title from last year.

Thanks to all that we met and looking forward to finding out the winner later this year.

Photography by Adam Duke Photography.