Meet Cam Terwilliger, Winner of the Black List’s Unpublished Novel Award

Meet Cam Terwilliger, Winner of the Black List’s Unpublished Novel Award

The Black List recently announced the seven winners of its inaugural Unpublished Novel Award, introducing the world to seven writers across various genres from children’s and young adult fiction to adult crime, horror, and literary fiction.

Debutiful recently chatted with all seven winners and is excited to introduce the world to each writer, discover why and how they write, and learn more about the book that won them the award.

Meet Cam Terwilliger, winner of the Literary Fiction award for his manuscript, White Flame. Terwillger lives in Brooklyn, where he currently teaches at New York University. His writing has appeared in American Short Fiction, Electric Literature, Gettysburg Review, and Narrative, where he was named one of Narrative’s “15 Under 30.” With an MFA from Emerson College, he has also received support from Brown University, the Fulbright Program, James Jones First Novel Fellowship, Massachusetts Cultural Council, New York State Council on the Arts, New York Public Library, Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, and the Bread Loaf, Tin House, and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences.

We asked Terwilliger to give readers a brief insight into his writing life and his Unpublished Novel Award-winning manuscript, White Flame.

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Meet Roz Ray, Winner of the Black List’s Unpublished Novel Award

Meet Roz Ray, Winner of the Black List’s Unpublished Novel Award

The Black List recently announced the seven winners of its inaugural Unpublished Novel Award, introducing the world to seven writers across various genres from children’s and young adult fiction to adult crime, horror, and literary fiction.

Debutiful recently chatted with all seven winners and is excited to introduce the world to each writer, discover why and how they write, and learn more about the book that won them the award.

Meet Roz Ray, winner of the Crime & Mystery award for her manuscript, Us Honest Crooks. She was born and raised in Seattle and received an MFA from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts. Ray has spent years teaching writing to K-12 students and at universities and is in the process of becoming a certified Wired for Reading specialist.

We asked Ray to give readers a brief insight into her writing life and her Unpublished Novel Award-winning manuscript, Us Honest Crooks.

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See the cover for Appetite by P. Paramita

See the cover for Appetite by P. Paramita

How far will you go to feed your ambitions?

That’s the central question in P. Paramita’s debut novel, Appetite. It follows Zarina, an underpaid prep cook in New Haven who dreams of opening a restaurant while finding solace in cooking Bangladeshi-inspired dishes. Zarina idolizes pro wrestler Sierra Myst, who unexpectedly befriends her. From there, her wildest dreams start to come within reach, but the relationship grows imbalanced, pulling her away from her own ambitions.

Paramita herself is a Bangladesh-born, New Haven-based writer, professor, and pop culture enthusiast. Her debut novel will be published on August 4, 2026, by The Dial Press. It is available for pre-order now.

Debutiful is honored to reveal the cover of Appetite, which was designed by Sophia Chunn, along with a Q&A with Paramita about its creation.

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See the cover for I Can Tell You the Version That Will Make You Take My Side by J Brooke

See the cover for I Can Tell You the Version That Will Make You Take My Side by J Brooke

J Brooke is the award-winning queer documentary Out Late. They are also Prose Reviews Editor at The Rumpus, and a previous Nonfiction Editor for Stonecoast Review. They received their MFA from the University of Southern Maine, and their work has been nominated for a 2025 Pushcart, a 2025 Best of The Net, and “HYBRID” (their autobiographical essay on gender) won Columbia Journal’s 2020 Nonfiction Award.

In their debut poetry collection, I Can Tell You the Version That Will Make You Take My Side, Brooke takes readers on a journey from a tightly controlled, gendered childhood in elite New York spaces to a self-defined nonbinary adulthood that resists societal expectations and erasure. While exploring amily dynamics, body dysmorphia, class performance, and queer becoming, Brooke interrogates how identity is seen, misseen, and claimed.

The collection is available for pre-order through Driftwood Press now and will be released on June 2, 2026.

Debutiful is very excited to reveal the cover for the collection, which was designed by Sally Franckowiak, along with a Q&A with Brooke about its creation.

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Belgrave Road author Manish Chauhan believes every book he’s ever read shaped his debut novel

Belgrave Road author Manish Chauhan believes every book he’s ever read shaped his debut novel

Manish Chauhan, born in Leicester, is a writer who works as a finance lawyer in East London. His short story, “Pieces,” was shortlisted for the 2024 BBC National Short Story Award, and early excerpts of his debut novel, Belgrave Road, were longlisted for the Curtis Brown First Novel Award and shortlisted for the Daniel Goldsmith First Novel Prize.

In Belgrave Road, Chauhan introduces readers to Mira, a young woman navigating life in a new country and a marriage that leaves little room for choice. When she forms a quiet bond with Tahliil, she must decide whether connection and selfhood are risks worth taking and what freedom might really mean.

We asked Chauhan to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped his life and influenced his debut novel.

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Murder Bimbo author Rebecca Novack is always looking for a perfect Michael Crichton smell-alike

Murder Bimbo author Rebecca Novack is always looking for a perfect Michael Crichton smell-alike

Rebecca Novack grew up in the Rocky Mountains and received a master’s in theological studies from Harvard Divinity school. Now, she’s releasing her debut novel, Murder Bimbo.

Murder Bimbo follows a sex worker recruited into a covert political assassination, who is left to fend for herself once the job is done. Hiding in the woods with only days to survive, she races to control her story through a feminist podcast and a series of increasingly unreliable emails, forcing readers to question truth, power, and who gets to be disposable.

We asked Novack to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could learn about the books that shaped her life and influenced her debut novel.

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See the cover for The House Built on Alligator Bones by Sophia Huneycutt

See the cover for The House Built on Alligator Bones by Sophia Huneycutt

Sophia Huneycutt‘s short fiction has won the Porch Prize, judged by Kevin Wilson, and appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, STORY, The Greensboro Review, and Nashville Review. Originally from Florida, she received an MFA in creative writing from the Ohio State University and has received support from the de Groot Foundation, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Greater Columbus Arts Council, and the Ohio Arts Council, as well as attending the Tin House Writers Workshop.

In her debut novel, The House Built on Alligator Bones, she introduces readers to Dartrine Beaumont, who, after her mother’s death, travels to Amelia Island to meet the wealthy relatives she never knew she had, only to be pulled into a ruthless inheritance fight and the eerie legacy of her family’s alligator empire. As sabotage escalates and rumors of a curse deepen, Dart must decide whether the past is something to escape, expose, or confront (and what it costs to do so).

The House Built on Alligator Bones will be released by Dutton on October 6, 2026, and is available for preorder now.

Debutiful is honored to reveal the cover of The House Built on Alligator Bones, which was designed by Andreea Dumuta, along with a Q&A with Hneycutt about its creation.

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Eight books about coming of age in a war zone, recommended by Ashraf Zaghal

Eight books about coming of age in a war zone, recommended by Ashraf Zaghal

The following works of literary fiction explore coming-of-age in war zones across different geographies and historical moments. My aim is to reveal glimpses of shared human experiences beyond political or socio-economic contexts. Amid constant violence, fear, and mistrust, the young protagonists in these stories confront loss and moral ambiguity far earlier than they should. Childhood habits and innocent practices are disrupted by displacement, scarcity, and grief, leading to rapid, unstable growth. These stories linger not on battles, but on interior lives and intimate rituals. 

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