Glasgow Boys wins the Branford Boase Award 2025 for debut writers

Margaret McDonald's Glasgow Boys has scored a hat trick with its third top literature award this year, winning the Branford Boase Award 2025 for outstanding debut writers and their editors. Editors Alice Swan and Ama Badu, who edited Glasgow Boys, were also awarded alongside author Margaret McDonald. Glasgow Boys has already won the Carnegie Medal and UKLA Book Awards.

Glasgow Boys was described by the judges as "a moving, beautifully written coming-of-age novel exploring the power of identity, community and masculinity".

Glasgow Boys Review and Extract:  "This powerful, sometimes gritty and ultimately uplifting novel is one that needs to be read by teenagers and adults alike." Stephen, ReadingZone.

Nathanael Lessore, who won the 2024 Branford Boase Award for his novel Steady For This, helped judge this year's award. He said, "The Branford Boase Award is special. Celebrating the relationship with editors and writers, and focusing on debuts, it's such an accomplishment to be shortlisted. It celebrates the collaborative aspects of literature, while directing a spotlight onto stories from authors we haven't heard from. I was one of those authors, and I'm eternally grateful for the shortlisting and the win. It was the first time I felt I could be proud to be a writer. And I got to share that with my editors."

He added, "The books on this year's Branford Boase Award shortlist reflect the current battles that young people face societally and within themselves, but they also show the positive sides of humanity and community, leading to wonderful journeys of self-belief. Glasgow Boys had me tearing up with how raw and powerful it was. I finished it feeling like I'd just watched an Oscar winning film. Banjo and Finlay were real, their emotions palpable, and their relationship beautiful. Not many books move me the way this one did. It had to win.”

Read the full Branford Boase 2025 Shortlist

Margaret McDonald described her editorial relationship with Alice Swan and Ama Badu as unlike any other creative experience because, "they treated Banjo and Finlay as I do myself, which is as real people". She added, "I worked on every single aspect of Glasgow Boys with Alice and Ama, and it wouldn't exist as it does today without them, truly. Glasgow Boys is a piece of my soul and to have it recognised in this way is unbelievably special, but also to have my incredible editors Alice and Ama recognised for the magnificent work they did, taking such care of Banjo and Finlay, is more than half of the joy."

Alice Swan said she was "delighted" that a story about two teenage boys emerging from the care system in Glasgow, with some of the dialogue in Scots, "has received such extraordinary recognition". "I fell in love with Glasgow Boys on my very first read, and the whole publishing journey has been one of mutual appreciation, trust and respect for two very important characters. This book has so many powerful things to say, and I am utterly thrilled by the incredible reader response. For Ama and I to have our contribution celebrated by this unique award is a lovely bonus."

Ama Badu added, "We knew just how special this story was from the start, and it brings me such joy to know that so many can see the same beauty. It's a book that every reader can draw solace from. I'm honoured to have played a part in its journey."

Julia Eccleshare, Chair of the judges and co-founder of the Branford Boase Award congratulated Margaret McDonald, Alice Swan and Ama Badu for their award. "Tender and insightful, Glasgow Boys is a deeply moving story shaped by the struggles against class and poverty that so many young people in today's society must overcome to change their lives and opportunities. Despite all, Margaret McDonald's characters are full of hope and the story is refreshingly strong and bold, too."

While the relationship between author and editor is generally invisible to readers, she added that it is "absolutely vital to the success of individual books, authors, and the publishing industry. We are immensely proud to highlight this with the Branford Boase Award".

The 2025 winners of the Branford Boase Award were announced by Nathanael Lessore on Wednesday 9 July at a ceremony at CLPE, Webber Street, London Margaret McDonald received a cheque for £1,000 and she and Alice Swan and Ama Badu received engraved trophies.

This year’s judges included Nathanael Lessore, who together with his editors Ruth Bennett and Ella Whiddett won the 2024 Branford Boase Award with Steady for This; Phoebe Demeger, CLPE’s librarian; author, former bookseller and now BA Bookshop Mentor Nicki Thornton; and Rumena Aktar, SLA School Librarian of the Year and expert reviewer for Inclusive Books for Children. The judging panel is chaired by Julia Eccleshare, former children's director of the Hay Festival.

The Branford Boase Award was set up in 2000 to commemorates prize-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase of Walker Books. As Branford Boase Award winners, McDonald, Swan and Badu join a list that has shaped children's literature over the last quarter century. Winning and shortlisted authors include Frances Hardinge, Kevin Brooks, Meg Rosoff, Patrick Ness and Maisie Chan, and winning editors include David Fickling, Fiona Kennedy, Barry Cunningham and Bella Pearson.