Authors, publishers, agents, librarians, charities, book suppliers and readers descended on Stanfords Bookshop in London's Covent Garden last night, Wednesday 12th July. 

Together, we celebrated the six authors shortlisted for the 2023 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize.

We were joined by four of the authors, Paddy Crewe, Anthony McCarten, Priscilla Morris and Emma Styles. Jenny Tinghui Zhang is based in the USA, and Natasha Pulley is currently out of the UK, but we raised a glass to all six writers and commended their fantastic novels. You can read interviews with each of the authors here. 

Speeches were given by Georgina Brown, The Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation Manager; Helen Rosser, librarian at Peters Book Supplier and part of the panel responsible for selecting the shortlist; and Giles Kristian, author, winner of the 2022 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, and one of the four individuals on this year's judging panel.

You can enjoy a selection of photos from the night below:

                              

                              

                              

                                

                              

                              

                              

                              

                              

                              

Photography by Adam Duke Photography.