Z. K. Abraham won at the Scottish Book Trust New Writers Awards 2025 on Thursday, February 27, 2025.
The Scottish Book Trust is a charity that promotes reading and writing in Scotland. Since 2009, it has hosted an annual awards programme to support individuals committed to developing their writing. The winners are celebrated in the categories of fiction and narrative nonfiction, poetry and spoken word, and children and Young Adults. The winners for 2025 were announced on Thursday, February 27.
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “We are committed to nurturing emerging voices in Scottish literature and are continually inspired by the creativity and resilience our awardees demonstrate. This year’s awardees, with their unique perspectives and storytelling, promise to enrich Scotland’s literary landscape, and we are excited to support them as they take the next steps in their writing journeys.”
In the fiction and narrative nonfiction category, the Callan Gordon Award, writer and psychiatrist M.D. Z. K. Abraham was among the winners. Writing at the borders of the literary and the speculative, reality and the uncanny, she has a master’s in creative writing with distinction from the University of Edinburgh, and a medical doctorate from Cornell University. Her background in psychiatry informs her introspective, often weird fiction.
Z. K. said, “When I received the call, I didn’t quite understand what was happening at first. I thought I might have made an error on my application. When I learned I was awarded the Callan Gordon Award, I was in shock! I was also so grateful to the Gordon family and deeply moved by his life and impact.”
She receives a £2,500 cash award, allowing her to focus on her work, as well as a tailored package that can include mentoring from writers and industry professionals; training in PR; performance and presentation training; and the opportunity to showcase work to publishers and agents. The awards also include a week-long retreat, offering time, space and the freedom to create new work in idyllic surroundings.
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