ADHD, disability and working-class life: Tom Newlands wins prize for breakout Scottish debut

The book was also named runner-up for the ADCI Literary Prize, which celebrates fiction by disabled and neurodivergent writers.

Newlands, 45, born in Perth and now based in London, is emerging as one of the most distinctive new voices in contemporary fiction.

His debut is a vivid coming-of-age story featuring Cora Mowat, a sharp, sparky teenager navigating grief, friendship and identity — all while trying to make sense of a world that often doesn’t make room for her.

Tom Newlands

The novel is rooted in Newlands’ own experience of growing up neurodivergent in a working-class community and shines a light on a life rarely depicted in British fiction.

“For many readers, Cora is just a funny, outspoken, impulsive teenager,” Newlands says. “But to others — those with autism and ADHD — she represents a way of being that is rarely seen in literature.”

Newlands only began writing seriously at 40, during the COVID-19 lockdown, after being furloughed from his job in a warehouse. With no formal training, he completed the first draft in just three months — a feat he credits to his ADHD hyperfocus. Before that, he hadn’t written creatively since high school.

“Growing up disabled in a working-class Scottish community, there were no role models for someone like me,” he says. “I didn’t believe someone with my brain could write a novel, let alone publish one. It turns out my brain is why I could do it.”

Only Here Only Now

A hit with book clubs and booksellers, Only Here Only Now has been praised for its wit, emotional force and sharp observation, earning a spot as a Guardian Fiction Book of the Year and shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize.

“I wrote Only Here, Only Now because I couldn’t find the book I needed — a warm, funny story that talked about poverty, disability and belonging without flinching,” says Newlands. “To see it now recognised like this is overwhelming. I hope it shows other neurodivergent writers that their voices matter too — and that it's never too late to start.”

The paperback is out now and has been selected as Waterstones’ Book of the Month across Scotland for July 2025. Film and TV rights are already drawing serious interest.