There are around 7 million carers in the UK alone unpaid people who look after someone who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, mental health problem or addiction and cannot cope without support.
The Curae Prize was established in 2022 to offer a platform to these writer-carers, offering creative focus and access to the publishing industry. Attracting a wealth of extraordinary submissions, the inaugural prize has been widely praised for its inclusivity and spotlighting of neglected talent, and this anthology celebrates the works that made it on to the shortlist.
The Curae Prize is spearheaded by Anna Vaught, an English teacher, Creative Writing teacher, mentor, editor and author of several books, including Saving Lucia, Famished, Ravished, The Zebra and Lord Jones, These Envoys of Beauty and The Alchemy. Her short creative works and features have been widely published, and she has written for the national press and has had a column with The Bookseller and Mslexia. In 2022 Anna launched the Curae Prize, a new literary prize for carers. Anna is also a guest university lecturer, a tutor for Jericho Writers, and volunteers with young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. She is the mother of three sons, comes from a large Welsh family and lives in Wiltshire.
