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Curating Adventure: The Wilbur Smith Prize 2025 at Foyles.

Article first published September 2025 by Soi Books.

Wilbur Smith wrote adventure at scale: empires, deserts, dynasties, survival. Since his death in 2021, the Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation has kept that legacy alive through the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, a project that doesn’t just honour his name, but actively curates new voices in global adventure writing.

We first experienced the Prize in 2023, at Stanfords bookstore. That evening showed us how the Foundation was positioning adventure writing as more than a genre, as a shared culture. Two years on, the 2025 awards at Foyles were a pleasure to experience in full — the event in all its glory.

On 11 September 2025, the Foundation hosted its annual awards reception at Foyles, Charing Cross Road, London. The night gathered writers, publishers, librarians, agents, and readers to announce the year’s winners and to show how far “adventure writing” can stretch.

Best Published Novel: Costanza Casati, Babylonia

The top award went to Costanza Casati for Babylonia (Penguin Michael Joseph), a bold reimagining of Semiramis, the 9th-century Assyrian queen. Judges praised the book for its ferocity, scale, and modern urgency. Following Francesca de Tores’s Saltblood in 2024, it marks the second year running that historical fiction has claimed the Prize.

New Voices: Five Writers to Watch

The New Voices Award spotlighted five debut talents:

Sarah Ang, Whale Song
Oliver Tobias Bugg, Land of Water
Bidisha Chakraborty, The Fold
Marcella Marx, Invisible Animals
Sam McManus, A Bear Wakes in Winter

Different in setting and style, but all pushing the definition of adventure away from clichés.

Author of Tomorrow: The Next Generation

The Author of Tomorrow category proved how early storytelling instincts begin:

Mei Lau (11) Deep Dive
Amena Datoo (15) The Newfound Voice
Abbie Englund (21) The Dividing Line
Madeline Arcaro (Salt in Her Lungs, Highly Commended by Niso Smith

Beyond the Prizes

The speeches cut through any sense of ceremony. Angus Collins, endurance athlete and men’s mental health advocate, spoke about ocean rowing, storms, and the inner battles that run parallel to external feats. Atlas Weyland Eden, last year’s youth winner, offered a younger perspective on what adventure means now.

The Curatorial Hand

What makes the Prize distinctive is its structure: longlists are shaped by UK librarians, shortlists are debated by book clubs across the country, and reader votes carry real weight. At the centre of this ecosystem is Georgina Brown, who has turned the Foundation into more than an awards body. It is cultural infrastructure: a way of keeping adventure writing democratic, dynamic, and accessible.

Why It Matters

The Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize 2025 wasn’t just another awards night. It mapped a living network, established writers, new names, and young voices all in dialogue. That curatorial approach ensures adventure writing isn’t preserved as nostalgia, but constantly renewed.