The Libraro Prize 2026 · in partnership with Hachette UK
Sheep’s Clothing takes the inaugural £50,000 Libraro Prize package and a book deal with Hachette UK.
Be the first to read it
Register your interest and we’ll let you know when Sheep’s Clothing publishes via Hachette UK.
The Libraro Prize 2026 winner
by Donna Fisher
Congratulations to Donna Fisher, whose novel Sheep’s Clothing has been awarded the inaugural Libraro Prize 2026 — a £50,000 prize package from Libraro and a book deal with Hachette UK.
Previously announced as part of the six-book shortlist, Sheep’s Clothing was selected by a judging panel chaired by Joanne Harris OBE, following an outstanding response from Libraro’s global community of readers and writers.
“A remarkably assured and engaging novel of the post #MeToo era — provocative and timely.”
Exploring questions of sexual power, cancel culture and consent within a lyrical fable, Sheep’s Clothing asks where love, morality and what matters most collide.
While today celebrates one winning story, The Libraro Prize 2026 has always been about championing new voices everywhere. Thank you to our shortlisted writers, our judging panel — including Elly Griffiths, Bobby Palmer, Deborah Maclaren and Zubs J. Malik — and the thousands of writers and readers who reviewed, commented, shared and championed stories throughout the journey.
About the winner
Donna Fisher is a British-born writer now living in Alexandra Headland, Queensland, Australia. She was shortlisted for the 2025 Bridport Short Story Prize, and her work has been featured on BBC Radio. Her poetry and short fiction regularly appear in literary magazines including Litro, Beyond Words and samfiftyfour.
In 2021, she self-published her debut novel Queentide, which won an Indie Books We Love award from LoveReading. She writes across genres, but a common thread runs through all her work: transformation, growth, and hope. She is currently completing a Master of Creative Writing at Edith Cowan University, and shares her poetry, stories and personal essays on her Substack.
The Libraro Reader Engagement Prize 2026 · in collaboration with LoveReading
Holly Hughes wins the £10,000 Libraro Reader Engagement Prize — for championing writers throughout the inaugural Prize.
The £10,000 Libraro Reader Engagement Prize, in collaboration with LoveReading, has been awarded to Holly Hughes — a Creative Writing Master’s student based in Cork, Ireland, and the reader who engaged most actively with the writers’ submissions on the platform.
Throughout the Prize, Holly stood out as one of Libraro’s most engaged and passionate readers, actively championing writers through thoughtful reviews, comments, feedback and community participation. The Reader Engagement Prize celebrates the readers who help stories grow, writers thrive and new voices get discovered.
About the winner
Holly Hughes is a writer, poet and performer from Clonakilty, West Cork. She holds a BA in English and French from the University of Galway and a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Relations and Communications from the Fitzwilliam Institute in Dublin. Her career has evolved from communications professional in international development, to freelance writer and environmental columnist, to poet, playwright and performer.
She was recently named a rising star to watch in 2026 by the Irish Independent after her debut solo show, I Want to Speak to Your Manager (How I Was Radicalised And Became… Karen), premiered to sold-out audiences at Scene + Heard and Dublin Fringe Festival in 2025. She has been selected as one of the Abbey Theatre’s Box of Tricks playwrights for 2026.
The Libraro Prize 2026
Six fresh new voices in fiction were shortlisted for The Libraro Prize 2026. Shaped by feedback from Libraro’s online community of over 15,000 readers and writers, the inaugural shortlist features writers from the UK, Ireland, Australia and the United States, and spans a breadth of genres — horror, literary fiction, thriller, mystery & suspense, romance and women’s fiction.
by Ben Daniels
A thought-provoking sci-fi novel, set in a near future world, in which a group of people are selected to be frozen in stasis for decades.
by Donna Fisher
A lyrical fable that handles questions of sexual power, “cancel culture” and consent, and draws out where love and morality collide.
by Natalie Gordon
An empowering historical novel — inspired by love letters discovered by the author — set in World War Two.
by Mary Minnock
A deeply moving, intimate portrayal of a divorced mother and father facing the mysterious death of their daughter, while navigating their shared past.
by B. Robinson
A tense, unputdownable page-turner which takes readers into the world of a diabolical serial killer and the bestselling writer he abducts to tell his life story.
by T.J. Windwood
A gripping fantasy about a world in peril, where the only hope of salvation is a process called “the yielding” — in which participants emerge unrecognisable from their former selves.
15,000+ readers and writers from over 40 countries have already shared and discovered stories on Libraro, with more than 2,000 stories available for readers looking to discover and champion new talent.
About the prize
Libraro is a community-driven platform connecting writers, readers and publishers in a secure, data-driven environment. Patented IP protection lets writers share their stories safely, while readers champion new voices and influence what gets published.
The Libraro Prize 2026 is built on that idea: a £50,000 package from Libraro and a book deal with Hachette UK for the writer, plus two £10,000 Reader Prizes for the readers who help shape the result.
Publishing partner
Hachette UK is the UK’s second largest publishing group with 10 autonomous divisions and over 50 imprints. Authors include Rebecca Yarros, Stephen King, Alice Oseman, John Grisham, Adam Kay, Val McDermid, David Nicholls, J.K. Rowling, Ian Rankin, and Malala Yousafzai.
Adult divisions: Little, Brown · Orion · John Murray Press · Hodder & Stoughton · Headline · Bookouture · Octopus. Plus Hachette Children’s Group and Hachette Learning.
Three prizes
Entries 19 Jan – 15 Feb 2026
The Libraro Prize 2026 set out to discover the next bestselling fiction or crossover YA book in the English language. Entrants worldwide aged 18+. The winning writer takes a £50,000 package from Libraro and a book deal with Hachette UK.
Engagement 19 Feb – 20 March 2026
£10,000 awarded to the reader who most actively engaged with Prize entries on the Libraro Platform and on social media — championing the new voices behind the shortlist.
Entries 19 Jan – 15 Feb 2026
£10,000 awarded to the reader who referred the winning writer. If the invited writer goes on to win the Hachette UK book deal, the referring reader receives the Reader Referral Prize.
Reader Prizes partner
LoveReading is the UK’s leading book recommendation and discovery platform, known for championing reading at every stage of life. Its trusted reviews, curated lists and active community of readers play a vital role in expanding visibility for books and building meaningful connections between people and stories.
Libraro and LoveReading share a belief that readers shape culture. The partnership brings together LoveReading’s engaged community and Libraro’s safe-discovery model to create space for readers to influence which writers and stories rise to prominence.
With thanks to
Sign up to share your work, follow new voices, and shape what gets published — or browse the catalogue to find your next read.
