New Writing is an annual anthology of new literature in English from Britain and the Commonwealth, subsidised and administered by the British Council and published by Picador in association with the Arts Council of England. It was founded in 1992 by the British Council's Literature Department in response to the strong interest in the newest, liveliest and most exciting of British writing in countries overseas where access to contemporary writing and to books is often difficult. It is primarily designed to act as an international shop-window for writers, but also to be a showcase of new work and fresh talent for British audiences.

Some of the contents of the anthology are commissioned but submissions (short stories, poetry, essays, extracts from work in progress) are invited from authors or their agents for consideration. Priority will be given to writers of British or Commonwealth nationality and to work, which illuminates and illustrates British life and literature today. The work must be unpublished and the author should be willing to give the British Council electronic rights as well as world rights in all languages for eighteen months following publication (the copyright remains with the author). There is no limit on the length of pieces, but constraints of space mean that longer items will stand less chance of acceptance.

Submissions should be sent in triplicate, clearly typed, double-spaced, page numbered and with name and address on each piece to: New Writing, Literature Department, The British Council, 10 Spring Gardens, London W1A 2BN. The deadline for receipt of submissions for New Writing 13 is 31 August 2003. It will not be possible to return manuscripts due to the volume of work received.

The editors of New Writing are appointed by the British Council and change annually, in order to cover a variety of tastes and trends. Volumes which have appeared so far are:

New Writing, edited by Malcolm Bradbury and Judy Cooke (Minerva 1992)
New Writing 2, edited by Malcolm Bradbury and Andrew Motion (Minerva 1993)
New Writing 3, edited by Andrew Motion and Candice Rodd (Minerva 1994)
New Writing 4, edited by A S Byatt and Alan Hollinghurst (Vintage 1995)
New Writing 5, edited by Christopher Hope and Peter Porter (Vintage 1996)
New Writing 6, edited by A S Byatt and Peter Porter (Vintage 1997)
New Writing 7, edited by Carmen Callil and Craig Raine (Vintage 1998)
New Writing 8, edited by Tibor Fischer and Lawrence Norfolk (Vintage 1999)
New Writing 9, edited by John Fowles and A L Kennedy (Vintage March 2000)
New Writing 10, edited by Penelope Lively and George Szirtes (Picador March 2001)
New Writing 11, edited by Andrew O’Hagan and Colm Toíbín (Picador March 2000)
New Writing 12, edited by Jane Rogers, Blake Morrison and Diran Adebayo, to be published by Picador October 2003
New Writing 13, edited by Toby Litt and Ali Smith, to be published by Picador March 2005.

PRAISE FOR NEW WRITING

"New Writing 9 is like a banquet, containing elements to satisfy a wide range of tastes, as well as functioning pleasingly as a whole...This is a gleaming showcase of talent, which is stimulating, provocative and fun."
Times Literary Supplement

" Who has time to read everything even all-time favourite writers, let alone keep up with the brilliant new talent that squeezes into the literary limelight each year? Now you can catch up with the known and catch on to the new with this terrific new anthology of short stories, extracts from novels-to-come, essays and poetry. New Writing is the publisher's equivalent of a first-class pudding trolley."
Cosmopolitan

"Abundant with good and even daring contributions."
Guardian

"A strong, varied collection. . . It is a pleasure, at the cusp of the millennium, to find British writing so outward looking. New Writing is a reassuring outpost on the path ahead."
Times

"Some of these pieces are so good that the reader checks out the pages remaining, not so as to know how quickly she can turn out the light and go to sleep but because she does not want the pleasure to end."
Daily Telegraph

"New Writing is one of the rare catch-all anthologies to offer a truly appetising buffet of poetry, essays, short stories and excerpts from novels-in-progress."
Scotland on Sunday