Caleb Azumah Nelson

Caleb Azumah Nelson is a British-Ghanaian writer, photographer and filmmaker, living in South East London. His writing has been published in Litro and in 2019 he was shortlisted for the Palm Photo Prize and won the People’s Choice prize. Caleb was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2020 for his story 'Pray' - which he then adapted as a short film and directed for B-Side Production and BBC Films, with David Jonsson (INDUSTRY) starring; this just premiered at the 2023 Locarno Film Festival. Additionally, he was selected by the Observer as one of the '10 Best Debut Novelists of 2021', and his debut novel OPEN WATER was chosen by the Booksellers Association as its Fiction Book of the Month for February 2021. 

OPEN WATER was published by Viking (UK), as well as by Grove Atlantic (US). It has since been longlisted for the Desmond Elliot prize and the Gordon Burn prize, shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year 2021, and won the Costa First Novel Award 2021. In 2022 it was selected as Waterstones Paperback of the Month and longlisted for the 2022 Dylan Thomas Prize. Caleb's second novel, SMALL WORLDS, was published earlier this year by Viking (UK) and Grove Atlantic (US), as well as internationally.  The novel has received high praise, with Katie Kitamura calling Caleb’s prose “unmatched in its musicality and sensitivity” and Candice Carty Williams stating that it is “Beautiful, unforgettable and all-consuming”.

Both OPEN WATER and SMALL WORLDS have been optioned for screen, with Caleb adapting. He is also working on an original series, ENDLESS, with Element Pictures and an original feature, THE LAST STOP, with Heyday and Film4.