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Goldsmiths, University of London

01/16/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/16/2025 20:12

Goldsmiths student receives Royal Society of Literature award

Haleh Agar has won the Royal Society of Literature's Literature Matters Award for her project Writing Back to the Coloniser: The Power of Gothic Fiction, which will result in a novel.

Launched in 2018, the award aims to enable and reward literary excellence and innovation. Haleh, a postgraduate student in English and Creative Writing, was among several winners who will share the £20,000 annual prize.

The award is given for original writing or literary activity of an excellent standard that will reach a large audience. Haleh's award-winning work forms the basis of her practice-led PhD novel. Titled 'Coo', the novel explores the legacy of colonialism in the Middle East by re-imagining the 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde', set in the context of the 1953 coup in Iran.

Literature has the power to change our perception of the world by spotlighting stories which have been ignored or suppressed in the mainstream.

Haleh Agar, PhD Creative Writing student

Jane Desmarais, Head of Department, English and Creative Writing, says, "We are thrilled that Haleh wins this prestigious award for her ambitious and far-reaching project. Her work shines a light on the exciting Creative Writing PhD programme at Goldsmiths."

Haleh Agar explains how her novel aims to prevent the erasure of context: "We must understand the past - how it has created our present, so that we can make better choices in the future. With the Middle East on the brink of war, awareness of context, and holding the west to account for its actions is more important than ever. Context matters - and literature is the most affecting vehicle through which we can understand marginalised perspectives. Characters and story have the power to touch our hearts and minds."

Haleh is a published novelist and award-winning short story writer and essayist. Her short story 'Not Contagious' was highly commended by the Costa Short Story Award in 2019 and her essay, 'On Writing Ethnic Stories' won The London Magazine's inaugural essay competition in 2017.