Literary Stardust: Six Debuts That Set Nottingham Ablaze

An Evening with the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize Shortlisted Authors

Written by Katie Barr

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Last night at Waterstones Nottingham was nothing short of electric. forget Netflix, forget the pub, if you were lucky enough to snag a seat at the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize Shortlist event, they you already know: this was the place to be. 

Six authors. Six extraordinary books. And a crowd that couldn’t stop nodding, laughing, and queuing for signed copies like they had just met rockstars. Which, let’s be honest, they kind of had. 

The energy in the room? Warm. Joyful. A little reverent. Think: literary church, but with nicer wine and much better stories. Hosted by the charming Will Mycroft, the evening flowed like a good novel – funny, surprising, a little emotional, and over too soon. We were let into these authors worlds. Each nominee peeled back the curtain on their debut, and what we found behind it? Gold. Absolute gold. 

It’s one thing to write a novel, it’s another to sit in front of a room full of strangers and talk about your work with insight and charisma. Each author on this shortlist was able to do just that. 

Catherine Airey 

She talked about the techniques she used within her book Confessions, how the different voices and styles allowed her to move on in moments of writers block, to continue the story through a different lens. Through her book she dug into generational secrets and how women’s stories – across the decades – shape the narrative. By the end, I caught plenty of heads nodding and phones poised to add this to the ‘must read’ list. 

Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin

Mhaoileoin brought fire and heart to the conversation last night. Ordinary Saints is a novel about family, grief, queer identity, and the legacy of the Catholic Church in Ireland. And they spoke about it with a ferocity and tenderness. The novel follows an Irish woman living in London who’s pulled back into her past when she learns her later brother Ferdia is being put forward for sainthood.

The journey through grief, cultural expectations and religious legacy is raw and deeply moving. In the Q&A Mhaoileoin discusses Carlo Acutis – a teenager who was canonised – being an inspiration for this novel. Audience reactions? There were nods, gasps, and laughs. It’a a novel that provokes conversation.  

William Rayfet Hunter 

This author could win the award for the most understated but quietly devastating description of a novel. Discussing his motivation for the book,  we found the creation of such literature comes from the voices of the characters themselves, pushing and shouting at Hunter to record their stories. Their wonder at how it might end pushing him to the finish line and the edits that helped shape Sunstruck into the masterpiece it became. 

Lisa Ridzén

Ridzén’s presence was quiet and composed but what she said hit deep. When the Cranes Fly South, translated from Swedish, isn’t just the first ever translated debut to make the Waterstones shortlist; it’s a beautifully bittersweet contemplation of memory, autonomy, and aging. Lisa explained the stories creation, its derivation from her grandfather’s notes and how it became a stunning Swedish bestseller. Her presence was calm but powerful, with her speaking about memory, struggles and her passion to evoke emotion from readers. The audience lapped all of her anecdotes up. 

Lucy Steeds 

Lucy was a powerhouse on stage. Modest, thoughtful, but with a wry sense of humour that slipped in between more serious reflections. Her novel The Artist is set in the South of France and is a sweaty experience. There’s heat, literal and emotional, and tension that smoulders beneath the surface. She discussed how much detail she paid to the descriptive nature, wanting this book to appeal to both imaginative and literal thinkers, focusing on lines looking and sounding appealing. 

Gurnaik Johal 

Johal lit up the room with his clarity, charm, and deep sense of purpose. Saraswati is a collection of interlinked stories set across a variety of settings – shifting between time periods, accents, and family legacies with apparent ease. He spoke about growing up around Punjabi stories and trying to honour them without exorcising them. What gave it extra weight was knowing that Saraswati was published as the discourse about the real-world lost river came to fruition. It’s a debut that meets its moment head on and, remarkably, offers something healing in return. 

Thoughts

What stood out? This wasn’t a marketing showcase. Yes, they were pitching their books but these were real conversations. Authors admitting doubt, sharing inspiration, laughing and disagreeing. It’s rare to fell this connected at a literary event. 

The Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize isn’t just a shiny £5,000 cheque, it’s a pledge. To back writers at their first major step. Plus, it helped these books hit high visibility before a winner is announced! And if last night proved anything, it’s that we’re living through a moment of spectacular literary diversity and risk taking. Fiction’s looking brighter than ever. 

The winner drops on Thursday 24th July – but honestly? Last night felt like the real headline. These six books are already shifting the conversation now. This event was just writers, speaking from experience, passion, doubt and joy. And that’s the kind of literary night that sticks. 

Our Winner!

But let’s not forget the other extraordinary voices on the shortlist—Catherine Airey, Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin, William Rayfet Hunter, Lisa Ridzén, and Gurnaik Johal—each of whom brought something powerful, personal, and unforgettable to the stage and the page.

This year’s debut fiction has been nothing short of breathtaking, and every author here is already shaping the future of literature.

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All content is original to The Literary Lounge.

In-article image courtesy of Waterstones Nottingham and Waterstones. No changes were made to these images. 

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