Five writers will each receive a $10,000 grant to support their unpublished, mental health-driven manuscripts
(October 9, 2025), Los Angeles, California – The Black List, Spotify and The Jed Foundation (JED) are thrilled to announce that five unpublished manuscripts have been selected for the inaugural Spotify x JED Impact Award, an initiative supporting exceptional depictions of mental health in unpublished fiction.
Recipients will each receive a $10,000 grant to help support and foster their work in mental health storytelling. Selected manuscripts each represent positive depictions of mental health and further diversify mental health narratives in fiction. All writers will retain the rights to their unpublished, novel-length manuscripts as a part of this program.
The Spotify x JED Impact Award launched on blcklst.com in February 2025. Judges for the initiative include Michael La Ronn (THE GOOD NECROMANCER), Julia Phillips (DISAPPEARING EARTH) and Jason Reynolds (LOOK BOTH WAYS). “Each of the recipients wrote manuscripts with compelling characters and explorations of mental health issues that both educated and inspired me. I’m so proud of the recipients and hope these manuscripts are just the beginning,” said Michael La Ronn, Impact Award judge, bestselling author and YouTuber.
The Spotify x JED Impact Award is a part of Spotify’s Heart & Soul, Mental Health for Creators initiative, which supports artists, songwriters, and authors. It helps writers care for their own well-being and provides guidance on how to write about mental health in ways that feel empathetic, hopeful, and real. As a part of this ongoing initiative, Spotify will continue consulting with JED to provide additional resources to help support authors’ creative and personal well-being. Self-care and mental health storytelling resources for writers were also created in collaboration with Spotify and JED.
“Gratitude to our partners Casey Acierno and Henna Silvennoinen at Spotify, Courtney Knowles forJED for their deep commitment to supporting such an important initiative, and never wavering in their belief that help-seeking and help-giving narratives, stories that challenge mental health stereotypes makes for better, more responsible writing,” said Randy Winston, Creative Director of Fiction at The Black List. “Congratulations to our grant recipients for their work, and a heartfelt thank you to our judges Jason, Julia and Michael and our readers for their time and efforts.”
“The recipients of the inaugural Spotify x JED Impact Award bring to life vivid and moving depictions of mental health. We’re proud to celebrate these impactful narratives and support their writers,” said Spotify Social Impact Lead Casey Acierno.
“Reading the award submissions underscored the powerful role fiction plays in shaping our mental health and inner storytelling — how we see the world, our place in it, and the pathways for healing and growth,” says Courtney Knowles, Senior Media Advisor for The Jed Foundation. “We look forward to learning from these talented recipients and expanding our work with Spotify to support creators in their mental health and impact journeys.”
Information on the full list of manuscripts and writers can be found below. Interested industry members should reach out to Randy Winston (randy@blcklst.com) and Claire Austin-Kulat (claire@blcklst.com) to request any of these manuscripts.
Congratulations to the recipients of the Spotify x JED Impact Award:
DISTORTION by Daniel Patinkin
During the summer of 1996, Wade Puckett, a bipolar Chicago rock star, travels solo through Europe. There he engages in a torrid affair with a Spanish femme fatale, propelling him through a series of spiritual, formative, enthralling, and even traumatic experiences. Ultimately, however, Wade’s dark past and psychological instability come back to haunt him, sabotaging his relationship and complicating his pursuit of success and happiness.(Literary, Upmarket)
About Daniel: Daniel J. Patinkin is a Chicago-based author with three published books: The Crippler: Cage Fighting and My Life on the Edge (Skyhorse, 2016), The Trigger: Narratives of the American Shooter (Arcade, 2018), and Vestiges (self-published, 2024). His work has been featured or reviewed in the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Salon, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Vice, Library Journal, and more.
IN-BETWEEN WORLDS by Solomon Tesfaye
Born in a refugee camp in Yemen, young and spirited Hana tries to make sense of the world when her family relocates to the capital city and works to survive and keep loving each other in the face of cultural barriers, gender roles, and brutality. (Family Saga, Historical Period Epic)
About Solomon: Solomon Tesfaye is an Ethiopian writer and management consultant based in Washington, D.C., with a background in behavioral neuroscience from Colgate University and economics/public policy from Princeton University. Born and raised in a refugee camp in Yemen, he draws on lived experience to explore identity, faith, mental health, and what it means to live in-between worlds through the transcontinental black experience.
INFINITE DOLORES by Bree Barton
After her dad leaves thirteen-year-old Del and her mom to search for “better” versions of them across parallel universes, Del must face her anxiety and team up with alternate versions of herself to stop the multiverse from collapsing—and discover what it means to be “enough.” (Middle-Grade, Science Fiction)
About Bree: Bree Barton is an award-winning author, screenwriter, and mental health advocate who believes stories have the power to heal. She’s written four novels (HarperCollins, Viking/Penguin Random House) translated into six languages and published in nine countries, including the NPR-featured ZIA ERASES THE WORLD. Through her advocacy and essays in Slate, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today, Bree uses authentic storytelling to destigmatize sticky subjects like mental illness and infertility.
MORE THAN QUIET by Terah Tsuyako Summers
A teen struggling with anxiety, nearly invisible in her family and school, retreats into the fantasy she’s penning, but an invitation to a writing club allows her to begin breaking down the walls she’s built around herself. (Young Adult, Contemporary)
About Terah: Terah Tsuyako Summers is a biracial, Japanese-American writer born and raised in Hawai’i. She is a passionate mental health advocate and serves as a coordinator for Mental Health America of Hawai’i. Through her writing, she hopes to connect with young readers—especially those navigating mental health challenges—so they feel seen, validated, and less alone.
THE INVISIBLE RUNNER by Dennis Haseley
A boy comes to terms with his father’s war trauma in a baseball game that turns into a ghostly battlefield. (Young Adult, Historical)
About Dennis: Dennis Haseley is the critically acclaimed author of numerous books for adults and younger readers. His novel Shadows (Farrar Straus & Giroux) was described in The New York Times Book Review as “one of those rarities—a beautifully written novel for readers in the middle grades.” According to Publishers Weekly, his novel Dr. Gravity (Farrar) offered the same kind of whimsy as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. His screenplay for his novel Trick of the Eye (Dial Press) is in development.
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About Spotify
Since its launch in 2008, Spotify has revolutionised music listening. Our move into podcasting brought innovation and a new generation of listeners to the medium. In 2022, we took the next leap, entering the fast-growing audiobook market—continuing to shape the future of audio.
Today, more listeners than ever can discover, manage and enjoy over 100 million tracks, nearly 7 million podcast titles, and 350,000 audiobooks a la carte on Spotify. We are the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with more than 696 million users, including 276 million subscribers in more than 180 markets.
About The Jed Foundation (JED)
JED is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults. We’re partnering with high schools, colleges, and school districts to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems. We’re equipping teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other. We’re encouraging community awareness, understanding, and action for young adult mental health.
Connect with JED: Email | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Snapchat | YouTube
About The Black List
The Black List is a platform dedicated to identifying and celebrating exceptional storytelling. First established in 2005 as an annual survey of Hollywood’s most-liked unproduced screenplays, The Black List has since grown into a comprehensive resource for the film, TV, publishing, and theater worlds, serving thousands of writers, agents, managers, showrunners, producers, financiers, directors, actors, and theater industry professionals.
More information on The Black List is available at www.blcklst.com. For regular updates, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Letterboxd, and Youtube.
Press Contact:
Justin Barbo/The Jed Foundation: justin@jedfoundation.org
Randy Winston/The Black List: randy@blcklst.com
Kate Hagen/The Black List: kate@blcklst.com
Claire Austin-Kulat/The Black List: claire@blcklst.com
Emily Beekman/Spotify: ebeekman@spotify.com
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