'Perseverance is Essential': A Q&A with Romesh Gunesekera
In this exclusive interview, Romesh Gunesekera, Chair of the Judges of the 2025 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize, discusses the evolving relevance of literary prizes, the importance of perseverance, and offers advice to prize entrants and aspiring writers.
The 2025 Prize is open for submissions until 30 June 2025. Submit here.
Wasafiri: You have been a judge for a number of esteemed prizes, including last year’s International Booker Prize. What marks a striking submission to you?
A submission will stand out if it speaks to me and persuades me that it has been written with purpose and control. The writing will be fluent and the result meaningful. It needs to be strong enough to be read more than once, and that means it can’t rely on gimmicks. But I can’t give a blueprint for what will be striking — I look to the entries to teach me what that might be.
The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize is open to works in translation for the first time since its founding in 2009. Why do you think this step is important and why should prizes be trying to encourage and embrace more translated literature?
I am glad that the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize is now open to translation. It gives us the opportunity to discover and engage with a wider range of writing. It doesn’t mean that every prize needs to include translations. It will be a special challenge this year, as the translated pieces will be looked at alongside pieces originally written in English, unlike other prizes that focus exclusively on translations.
You have previously been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, as well as for the Guardian Fiction Prize, and won the prestigious Mondello Prize, the BBC Asia Award for Achievement in Writing & Literature, and more. What are your thoughts on the relevance of literary prizes in the contemporary literary landscape today and how has this changed from the past?
There are more prizes now than when I started out, but it also means the significance of each may be diminished — they are not as central in the cultural conversation. There are many conversations now – and the spotlight moves on more quickly – but they still provide much needed encouragement to the writers who are lucky enough to be noted by a prize. The downside is that there are more opportunities to be disappointed when you don’t get listed.
If you want to be a writer, you need to keep writing — whether you are touched by a prize or not.
What books being published in 2025 are you most looking forward to reading, and why?
I don’t keep track of what is upcoming, so I have no idea. I am still trying to catch up with what was published in the last century, never mind last year, when all my reading time was taken up with reading for the International Booker.
What does a typical writing day for you look like?
There is no typical day and there never has been. What I hope for is an uninterrupted morning, from the time I wake up until about midday. But it is rare to manage that as often as I’d like. This morning for example, the WiFi needed fixing, and it seemed better to do it straightaway than leave it until the afternoon, by which time the problem might have gotten worse. Then, since I was out of the writing zone, I thought I might as well answer these questions, and hope tomorrow would be a clearer day.
What advice would you offer to writers at the start of their careers?
Perseverance is essential, unless you are lucky from the beginning. But too much good luck at the beginning can also get in the way. So, perseverance comes back into play.
And give yourself time. Your writing will grow at its own pace. Nurture it, feed it. Don’t force it, but keep going.
The 2025 Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize is open for submissions until 30 June. To have your work considered by chair Romesh Gunesekera and our judging panel, submit here.
Image: Books at Kabubbu Community Library, Kabubbu, Wakiso, via Wikimedia Commons
