It has been announced that eight writers have been shortlisted for the inaugural Hope Prize from an incredible number of submissions. 

The Arch 468 Hope Prize offers a £10,000 commission and was an open call out for a new play that offered a vision of hope. The pandemic features heavily in many, along with stories of individuals overcoming dystopian reality to create a new world, coming to terms with mental health issues, dealing with drug addiction or reconnecting with family and loved ones. 

The panel who will select the winner includes Suba Das, Richard Twyman, Suzanne Bell, Tamara Harvey, Nick Stevenson, Stewart Pringle, Chloe Nelkin, Sofia Stephanou and Rebecca Atkinson-Lord. 

The shortlist includes One Hundred Oxen by Andrew Thompson, Wildfires by Annie Fox, Cataclysm by Beth Noonan-Roberts, The Unseeing by Carla Grauls, I Will Still Be Dreaming by Catherine Dyson, The Earth is in the Sky Tonight by Elsie Loades and Megan Mumby, Fools Gold by Matthew Gabrielli and Kissing Rice by Tabitha Mortiboy. 

For more information, please click here.