Footnote x Counterpoints Writing Prize
Footnote Press and Counterpoints Arts have once again partnered on the Footnote x Counterpoints Prize for writers from refugee and migrant backgrounds, with the 2026 prize focussing on fiction rather than non-fiction.
Erica Li’s winning story A Thousand Rivers of Time is a family saga chronicling the lives of three generations of women from a Hakka-Chinese family from 1945 to the present. The story explores themes of displacement, identity and memory and is a tribute to the resilience and courage of her paternal grandmother. The judges described the story as “taut and nuanced” and “a work of rare emotional force” with “such maturity and poise.”
The Footnote x Counterpoints Prize celebrates writers from refugee and migrant backgrounds telling stories centred around themes of displacement, courage and belonging. This is the second time that Footnote Press and Counterpoints Arts have partnered to run the Prize and the first time that it focused on fiction.
The winner was selected by a judging panel composed of acclaimed writer Dina Nayeri; Waterstones’ Head of Books, Bea Carvalho; Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize-shortlisted and Observer Best New Novelist, Gurnaik Johal; Footnote Press Commissioning Editor, Serena Arthur; and director and co-founder of Counterpoints Arts, Almir Koldzic. As the winner, Erica will receive a prize equivalent to £15,000, which includes a £7,500 cash prize as well as a publication agreement with Footnote Press with an advance of a further £7,500.
The Prize is also supported by the Southbank Centre, who hosted an event in May 2026 at which Erica, along with her fellow shortlisted authors, read and discussed their work in conversation with acclaimed author Colin Grant.
The 2026 shortlist was:
-When I Bleed it is Like a Squashed Raspberry by Eleanor Chan
-What The Trees Remember by Jose Hall
-A Thousand Rivers of Time by Erica Li
-Backward Into the Future: Her Past Was His Future by Joel Mordi
-The Weight of Staying by Ahmed Najar
-Bird of Dawn by Maryam Namazie
The winner of the inaugural prize (for non-fiction) was Sabrin Hasbun is a Palestinian-Italian transnational writer and lecturer, currently teaching creative writing for activism and decolonisation at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Her submission, entitled Crossing: A love story between Italy and Palestine, is a memoir-family saga which retraces the love story between her Palestinian father and her Italian mother, was published in 2025.
Sabrin Hasbun said: ‘After the loss of my mother, I tried to renegotiate my mixed identity and understand my mother’s choices from an oppressive childhood in a village in Tuscany to love and community activism in Palestine. This is a story about grief and what it means to lose not only loved ones, but also a place in the world and a sense of belonging. I hope Wait for Her will join the chorus of Palestinian voices that are calling from all over the world urging to listen to our people and our land.’
Simon Weisz was awarded second place for his book Resolution, followed by Roxana Shirazi for Dead Iranian Girl.
The judges were Elif Shafak, Philippe Sands and Dina Nayeri.
