in Conversation with Marcia Hutchinson & Rozie Kelly

 2 of the 6 authors shortlisted for the prestigious international 2026 Women's Fiction Prize.

Marcia was nominated for her debut novel, The Mercy Step and Rozie for her novel Kingfisher. They were the only UK writers nominated, and both live in the North West of England! (Marcia in Whalley Range and Rozie in Todmorden).

Marcia Hutchinson was born to Windrush generation Jamaican parents in the UK in 1962.

She was the first pupil from her comprehensive school to go to Oxford, where she gained an MA in Law. She worked as a lawyer before founding the educational publishing company Primary Colours, which she ran until 2014.

She was awarded an MBE in 2011 for services to Cultural Diversity.

Moving to Manchester in 2012, she became a community activist and was elected as a Labour Councillor in 2021.

She is now a full-time writer and an active member of the Black Writers’ Guild.

Her solo debut novel, The Mercy Step, was shortlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction and won the 2026 Discover Prize at The British Book Awards.

Rozie Kelly is a novelist based in West Yorkshire, where she works for the Arvon Foundation.

She has been shortlisted and longlisted for a variety of prizes, including the PFD Queer Fiction Prize, a Northern Writer’s Award, and the Writing East Midlands Short Story Award.

She was one of eight participants in the inaugural Prototype Development Programme 2024.

She won the 2024 NorthBound Book Award for Kingfisher, her debut novel, which was also shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2026.

They will each do short readings from their novels and then answer questions from the hosts and audience.

The books will be available for signing on the evening.

All welcome, whether you've read the book or not!