Former Student Wins Stormzy's #Merky Book Prize

A former Newman student has been awarded Stormzy’s #Merky Books Prize.  

Sufiyaan Salam, who attended Cardinal Newman between 2014 – 2016, won the rapper’s New Writers’s prize for his novel “Wimmy Road Boyz”.

 Sufiyaan, studied English Language, English Literature, Film Studies, and Philosophy during his time at Cardinal Newman, and wrote his award-winning debut novel exploring the complex themes of “heartbreak, masculinity, friendship, faith, and class.” Set in Manchester, where Sufiyaan spent his university days, it follows three men during a wild night out on Wilmslow Road in Manchester, also known as ‘Curry Mile’.

After graduating from Cardinal Newman, Sufiyaan went on to study English Literature at the University of Manchester, where he further honed his literary talents, before penning his now award-winning first novel.

Stormzy’s #Merky Books Prize aims to discover new and unpublished authors from under-represented backgrounds and the category covers budding authors aged 16 – 30 from the UK and Ireland. The prize for the winning author is a publishing contract with Stormzy’s publishing imprint Merky Books at Penguin Random House UK. Sufiyaan told the Lancashire Telegraph: “It’s still sinking in, but wow, I’m beyond excited to be given the opportunity to have my work published with Penguin.

"Having met the talented writers on the shortlist, I know just how fierce the competition was. 

“I’ve been trying to write for as long as I can remember and I’m committed to making work that’s interesting, has something to say, and is even better fun.”