Stories have the power to transcend borders — no matter how personal or unique, every story can tap into the universal emotions, experiences, and questions we all share about the world around us.
If you’re on the hunt for dynamic, thought-provoking reads from some of the UK’s most exciting contemporary writers, the ILX10 has you covered. Curated by UNESCO Cities of Literature in England and Scotland — Edinburgh, Exeter, Manchester, Norwich, and Nottingham — this expert list features standout voices in prose, poetry, and creative non-fiction, each with something vital to say about the world today.
From magical realism and mythology to poignant narratives of self-discovery, this collection highlights the diverse voices and experiences shaping modern storytelling.
The Cat and the City by Nick Bradley
In Tokyo a stray cat is wending her way through the back alleys. And, with each detour, she brushes up against the seemingly disparate lives of the city-dwellers, connecting them in unexpected ways.
The Cat and the City dives into the interconnected lives of various characters, reflecting themes of destiny, loss, and the city’s invisible ties. The story is a meditation on the threads that bind human lives together.
‘Nick Bradley’s ingenious choreography of a constantly moving city, is touching, surprising and sometimes heartbreaking.’ — Guardian
Keeping the House by Tice Cin
There’s a stash of heroin waiting to be imported, and no one seems sure what to do with it . . . But Ayla’s a gardener, and she has a plan.
Offering a fresh and funny take on the machinery of the North London heroin trade, Keeping the House lifts the lid on a covert world thriving just beneath notice: not only in McDonald’s queues and men’s clubs, but in spotless living rooms and whispering kitchens.
A striking debut novel that explores themes of family, generational trauma, and belonging. Tice Cin weaves an intimate tale of a young woman navigating the complexities of love, family secrets, and identity.
‘A mistress of deftly sketched characters that become whole humans in a few lines, Cin tells stories of working-class, inner-city life steeped in truth, emotion and vulnerability.’ — Guardian
re:desire by Afshan D’souza-Lodhi
Afshan Dsouza-Lodhi’s debut poetry collection re:desire explores the yearning to love, be loved and belong from a desi (South Asian) perspective. Her work sits on the intersections of flash fiction, poetry and script, echoing the hybridity of the worlds that many young British desis find themselves occupying. Drawing on the poetry of many different languages and cultures Urdu, English, Konkani, Islamic and Christian this collection explores how we access our traditions from a distance.
‘The language of poetry has many voices. Afshan’s is melodic, powerful, mixing English with her mother tongue in a harmony of verses.’ – Dr SuAndi, OBE
Sistersong by Lucy Holland
A powerful reimagining of a medieval legend, Sistersong delves into themes of sisterhood, power, and destiny. With elements of mythology and magic, it’s a story about breaking free from constraints and embracing your true self.
King Cador’s children inherit a land abandoned by the Romans, torn by warring tribes. Riva can cure others, but can’t heal her own scars. Keyne battles to be seen as the king’s son, although born a daughter. And Sinne dreams of love, longing for adventure.
All three fear a life of confinement within the walls of the hold, their people’s last bastion of strength against the invading Saxons. However, change comes on the day ash falls from the sky – bringing Myrdhin, meddler and magician. The siblings discover the power that lies within them and the land. But fate also brings Tristan, a warrior whose secrets will tear them apart.
‘A captivating spell of myth and magic’ – Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
Set in the Sicily of 412 BC, Lennon’s at once riotously funny and incredibly moving novel finds two locals and a bunch of captured Athenian soldiers staging two of Euripides’ greatest tragedies in a quarry.
Told in a contemporary Irish voice, Glorious Exploits is an unforgettable ode to the power of art in a time of war, brotherhood in a time of enmity, and human will throughout the ages.
‘Brilliant…Hilarious, moving, and profound’ – R. F. Kuang, author of Yellowface
ILX 10: Rising Stars of UK Writing
The ILX10 is NCW’s selection of ten exciting, dynamic, and thought-provoking early-career writers based in the UK whose work has the powerful potential to speak to and engage with global literary audiences. It forms part of a three-year programme called the International Literature Exchange.
The Wrong Person to Ask by Marjorie Lotfi
Marjorie Lotfi’s award-winning debut collection is a book of two halves, each a meditation on the idea of home, both the places we start and end up in our lives. Spanning a childhood in Iran dislocated by revolution, through years as a young woman in America, to her current home in Scotland, these poems ask what it means to come from somewhere else, what we carry with us when we leave, and how we land in a new place and finally come to rest. Winner of the James Berry Poetry Prize.
‘Knowingly, tenderly, and not without pain, these poems are reflections on place and the complicated feelings that accompany leaving a place and arriving elsewhere. The Wrong Person to Ask is as precise as it is dynamic; every line is exact, and each image carefully sculpted.’ — Alycia Pirmohamed, on behalf of the 2024 Forward Prize Judges
When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
Darwin is a down-on-his-luck gravedigger, newly arrived in the city to seek his fortune, young and beautiful and lost. Estranged from his mother, he is convinced that the father he never met may be waiting for him somewhere amid these bustling streets. Meanwhile in an old house on a hill, Yejide’s mother is dying. And she is leaving behind a legacy that now passes to Yejide: the keeper of the dead. Darwin and Yejide will find one another in the ancient cemetery at the heart of the city, where trouble is brewing and destiny awaits…
Embedded with timeless myth and magic, this hypnotic literary debut is a masterpiece about loss and renewal, darkness and light: a reckoning with a grief that runs back generations and a defiant, joyful affirmation of hope.
‘BELIEVE THE HYPE’ — Stella
Weak Teeth by Lynsey May
Ellis’s life has crumbled without warning. Her boyfriend has fallen in love with someone else, her job’s insecure, her bank account’s empty and she has a mouthful of unreliable teeth. Forced back to her childhood home, there is little in the way of comfort. Her mum is dating a younger man (a dentist, no less) and is talking of selling the house, her sister, Lana, is furious all the time, and a distant cousin has now arrived from the States to stay with them.
During a long, hot Edinburgh summer, Ellis’s world spins out of control. She’s dogged by toothache, her ex won’t compensate her for the flat and somehow she’s found herself stalking his new lover on Facebook.
Will Ellis realise before it’s too late that the bite she was born with is worth preserving?
‘There’s a huge emotional punch packed into this deceptively light novel’ — Daily Mail
That Reminds Me by Derek Owusu
This is the story of K.
K is sent into care before a year marks his birth. He grows up in fields and woods, and he is happy, he thinks. When K is eleven, the city reclaims him. He returns to an unknown mother and a part-time father, trading the fields for flats and a community that is alien to him. Slowly, he finds friends. Eventually, he finds love. He learns how to navigate the city. But as he grows, he begins to realise that he needs more than the city can provide. He is a man made of pieces. Pieces that are slowly breaking apart
That Reminds Me is the story of one young man, from birth to adulthood, told in fragments of memory. It explores questions of identity, belonging, addiction, sexuality, violence, family and religion. It is a deeply moving and completely original work of literature from one of the brightest British writers of today.
‘A beautiful meditation on childhood, coming of age, the now, and the media. This work is heartfelt.’ — Benjamin Zephaniah
The House of Broken Bricks by Fiona Williams
If every marriage has its seasons, Richard and Tess’s is in a deep winter.
As day breaks over the Somerset Levels, Tess watches the chamomile clouds part. This morning, two sunrises graze the frosted floodplains: one rises low over a stretch of willows, while the other shines brightly from beneath the water. The light paints the house a startling crimson: a painful beauty that Tess, Richard and their son Max – riddled with grief – find easy to ignore.
But none of them can ignore Sonny, who desperately wants things to go back to the way they were before.
As the seasons change, and the cracks in the bricks let in more light, might this broken family find a way to start to heal?
‘Tender and powerful.’ — Observer
The International Literature Exchange is a programme from National Centre for Writing, supported by the British Council and Arts Council England.
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ILX10: afshan d’souza-lodhi
Afshan d’souza-lodhi was born in Dubai and forged in Manchester. She is a writer of scripts and poetry. Her work has been performed and translated into numerous languages across the world. Her debut poetry collection re:desire (Burning Eye Books) was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize.
6th June 2024
ILX10: Ferdia Lennon
Ferdia Lennon was born and raised in Dublin. He holds a BA in History and Classics from University College Dublin and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia.
6th June 2024
