Congratulations to the six names on the shortlist for this year’s First Graphic Novel Award! An always vital and crucially important opportunity for creators.
Investigating a saint, falling in love online, preventing a suicide on the tracks, grieving a mother, transplanting a rabbit to an occupied island, and joining a diverse student household are the main themes of six graphic novels-in-progress shortlisted for the First Graphic Novel Award 2025.
The six creators, selected from a longlist of thirty entrants, were revealed at an event at the Thought Bubble Comics Convention in Harrogate on 15 November. Work by the shortlisted authors (see left) includes fiction, non-fiction and memoir.
- Lois de Silva FALLING IN LOVE ON THE FAMILY COMPUTER
- Calico M. KITTISH BANTER
- Lizz Lunney FORGET-ME-NOT
- Lauren O’Farrell THE FROZENS
- Yu-Ching Chiu A SLEIGH NO-ONE KNOWS
- Hannah McCann ST BRIGID & ME
The award is open to unagented comic creators who are UK residents and have not had a longform graphic novel commercially published before. The age of the 220 entrants ranged from 18 to 95.
Judges included Emma Hayley of SelfMadeHero, who will offer the winning author a contract for publication. Longlisted authors will receive feedback from the judges and have their work reviewed by Waterstones book buyer Nessa Urquhart and James Spackman of The bks Agency, sponsors of an additional £500 cash prize for the winner. The award will be announced on Monday 19 January 2026 at Waterstones Piccadilly.
Hayley said: ‘We’re delighted to have the support of Arts Council England for this award championing debut graphic novelists. It is essential to encourage the ever-increasing pool of emerging UK comic creators to show off their talents to a broader audience.’ SelfMadeHero has just published the queer thriller Bone Broth by the previous winner, Alex Taylor.
The four other judges are graphic novelists Shazleen Khan, Oscar Zarate, and Karrie Fransman, and contemporary artist Janette Parris.
James Urquhart, Interim Director, Literature & Senior Manager, Libraries, Arts Council England, said: ‘We are proud to support the First Graphic Novel Award through National Lottery funding. This champions the vibrant and growing comics sector in the UK, and provides a vital platform for emerging artists to tell bold, personal, and imaginative stories. The shortlisted works reflect the quality, diversity and creative potential of the medium, and we’re delighted to help bring these voices to wider audiences.’
The First Graphic Novel Award is a partnership with the Cartoon Museum, and SelfMadeHero, and is generously supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
FALLING IN LOVE ON THE FAMILY COMPUTER
Lois de Silva
2008: on the adolescent internet, two likewise teenaged girls find each other from half the world away. But in this time when the digital and the physical are still kept at a distance, what does it mean to fall in love through a screen?
KITTISH BANTER
Calico N.M.
When Irsim finally gets away from their conservative Muslim parents, they’re hardly expecting to end up in Leeds’ gayest Muslim house-share. Soon enough, thanks to new friends and the landlord’s excitable daughter, they’re considering their relationship to religion altogether.
FORGET-ME-NOT
Lizz Lunney
Loss and memory. Growing up often comes with both. This collection of autobiographical comic essays looks back on 25 years’ worth of grief, compassion, and moments of humour to create a guide for the bereaved.
THE FROZENS
Lauren O’Farrell
Unaware that she’s only days away from a cancer diagnosis, Lauren saves a boy she sees lying on the railway tracks. Soon she meets her own Death, and they both embark on a wild journey towards loving life.
A SLEIGH NO-ONE KNOWS
Yu-Ching Chiu
A story about the meaning of life involving a depressed rabbit, a sheep experiencing an existential crisis, and an utterly ludicrous military project. Philosophical concepts in the strangest of contexts, but somehow true to all…
ST BRIGID & ME
Hannah McCann
Brigid: saint and goddess. In this memoir, the fight for abortion rights in her homeland of Ireland inspires the author to reconnect with Saint Brigid, and to connect the dots between traditional folklore and modern social justice.
