Meet our
Team

Ascent Novel Prize readers are looking forward to receiving your work. Our initial assessment team consist of readers and authors from across the industry. Our judging panel will consist of one agent and one senior commissioning editor.

At Ascent Novel Prize, it is important that your work is evaluated by a range of professionals. The judging panel select the winner from a hard-won shortlist. This writing competition ensures every story is read with care.

Following the selection of the winner, our panel meet one last time to award the highest scoring writers from under-represented backgrounds. These awards are sponsored by a range of wonderful writers and businesses.

Ascent Novel Prize
Judges

Ajebowale Roberts
Senior Commissioning Editor
Tor UK

When I read I want to be taken away to a different world. I want to fall in love, have my heart broken, travel, experience heart-wrenching betrayal and hair-raising battles. Romantasy and romance are my heartland and the spicier the better! But I also love SFF!

I joined Tor in 2025, where I'm building a bespoke list across fantasy romance, romantasy, SFF and romance. Authors I work with include Nikki St. Crowe, Lucy Lehane and Jade Church. As an editor I want to build a list that represents the society that we live in and that pushes boundaries and elevates intersectionally diverse authors. I'm looking for books that break my heart into a million pieces and then put it back together again.

Amazing authors I have worked with in the past are Elizabeth Helen, Amélie Wen Zhao, R. F. Kuang, Laurie Gilmore, Melissa McTernan, Beth O'Leary, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Rebecca Ross, Analeigh Sbrana, Chioma Okereke, Ehigbor Okosun and many more.

I'm looking forward to reading intersectionally diverse novels that are character driven and pull me in from the first sentence. My best advice for writers feeling nervous about entering their work would be: don't stand in your own way. Your writing is meaningly, worthy and deserves to be seen.

Liza DeBlock
Literary Agent
Greenstone Literary

Liza DeBlock started as an assistant at Eccles Fisher Associates in 2018. She then moved into the world of literary agenting and learned from the brilliant Robert Caskie and Silé Edwards amongst others while working at a boutique agency. Whilst there, she honed her skills selling international rights for major Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling authors such as Richard Osman, Claire Douglas, Abigail Dean, Saara El-Arifi, Hannah Kaner, and many more writers. She began building a curated list of authors across the spectrum of fiction and non-fiction, selling their rights in the UK, US, and beyond. Her authors include Fortnum & Mason Debut Food Writing winner Sally Abé, HWA Debut nominated Stacey Thomas, thriller writers Natalie Chandler and Carys Green, and speculative writer Pim Wangtechawat amongst others. She moved to Greenstone Literary in 2025 and is looking for writers who are ready to share their stories to a global audience.

Sharing your writing is exciting as well as slightly nerve wracking! I am delighted to be a part of the Ascent Prize and honoured to be one of the first people to experience your story. I love finding authors who have something beautiful to say and that starts with trusting me to read your work. You might be curious about what I’m looking forward to reading. Well, I love beautiful prose that immediately propels me into the story. I read across nearly ever genre there is. I’m currently on the hunt for a nail-biting thriller, a fantasy I can sink into and escape the real world, a romcom that makes my heart sing, a historical novel that makes me rethink someone from the past, a contemporary novel about relationships (platonic or romantic), and so much more! Grip me with your writing, and take me on an adventure I want to tell everyone about. If you’re ready to take the plunge, then I cannot wait to hear from you!

Ascent Novel Prize Readers

Stacey Thomas

Author of the spell-binding novel, THE REVELS, Stacey Thomas is excited to be part of Ascent Novel Prize in its inaugural year. She is looking forward to reading all the amazing submissions that will come through. As a reader, she has a weakness for a killer first line, fresh approaches and strong writing across all genres. As a writer, she encourages you to be brave! Before being published she entered numerous competitions and ended up winning the ones she never thought she'd have a chance at. She looks forward to reading your entry.

Pete

Frost

Independent Bookshop owner and voracious reader, Pete Frost cannot wait to discover the next best-selling author. Enjoying a wide variety of genres, Pete is excited to read work with killer hooks or emotional depth. Entering writing competitions can be like taking a leap of faith, but with sensitive and astute readers, your work is in good hands. Pete encourages all writers to enjoy the process and share their hard won words with the world.

Venetia
Constantine

Venetia Constantine is the author of THE LAST STARBORN SEER, the first instalment in a mesmerising fantasy series publishing with Head of Zeus in March 2026. With a PhD in Art History, Venetia is looking forward to reading intricately drawn worlds and layered characters she can root for. Prior to finding her agent, Venetia entered many literary competitions and would encourage writers to use them as a chance to grow in confidence and nurture their talent.

Pim Wangtechawat

An author from Bangkok, Pim's debut novel THE MOON REPRESENTS MY HEART was published by Oneworld Publications in 2023 and has since been translated into multiple languages. She is thrilled to join Ascent Novel Prize in the search for heartfelt and innovative stories from writers around the world. As a reader, she gravitates toward layered characters and narratives that either ask though-provoking questions or sweep her into entirely new worlds. She encourages all writers to enjoy the process, trust their voices, and tell stories that feel honest and true to them.

Laure Van Rensburgh

Laure Van Rensburg is the author of NOBODY BUT US and THE GOOD DAUGHTER and has had several short stories placed in competition. As a reader she is looking forward to reading stories that draws her in through immersive writing and subtly weaved tension. She has a weakness for flawed characters and evocative prose. Back when she was an unpublished writer, she entered and placed in a few novel competitions, and one advice she would like to share is to make sure to polish your entry as much as possible before submitting…and remember that placing in a competition is a great boost, but if you don’t make it, it isn’t a reflection on your writing.

A.Y. Chao

Alice is thrilled to join the Ascent Novel Prize Award team and can’t wait to read your entries! She's the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Shanghai Immortal. The follow up Paris Celestial publishes March 2026. She adores immersive heartfelt stories and memorable voices, especially ones that make her laugh. Her advice to writers: There is no single “right way” to write. Plotter or panster, handwritten or typed, sequential or non-chronological, strict or irregular writing sessions, anything in between: it’s all good. The important thing is getting your story down in a way that works for you.