By Sara Bright
Creativitys.UK is thrilled to announce writer Anastasia Dubinina as the recipient of the April 2025 Creativity’s UK Award (Creativity’s Prize). Celebrated for her atmospheric psychological thrillers, Dubinina compels readers to navigate the murky borders between crippling anxiety, folklore, and the unsettling power of the unknown. In a literary landscape often favouring fast-paced plots, Anastasia Dubinina has carved a niche where chilling atmosphere meets profound psychological depth. Unlike fleeting genre trends, Dubinina’s work – particularly her novel “Anonymous Letters”, steeped in folk-horror and the anxieties of isolation – resonates as a testament to suspenseful, intelligent storytelling, earning her a place among contemporary fiction’s most intriguing voices.
The Creativitys UK Prize recognises Dubinina’s skill in pushing genre boundaries. Since its 2019 inception, the award has honoured creators who dismantle creative conventions, and Dubinina’s win underscores the jury’s belief in literature as a powerful tool for exploring the darker corners of the human psyche and environment. Chair Maria Bregman praises her “mastery in weaving chilling suspense from the fabric of everyday anxieties and forgotten folklore,” a quality that cements her relevance in an era hungry for authentic, thought-provoking narratives.
Established in 2019 by Creativitys.UK, the Creativity’s UK Award (Creativity’s Prize) spotlights luminaries who dissolve artistic boundaries. Previous winners include holographic sculptor Lin Mei and poetry collective Verse. January’s jury praised Dubinina’s ability to elevate the psychological thriller, proving that deep character exploration and page-turning tension can coexist powerfully. She isn’t just crafting mysteries – she’s excavating the anxieties of isolation and the unsettling power of suggestion, one meticulously crafted, atmospheric sentence at a time. In her hands, ambiguity becomes not a weakness, but the very source from which profound unease relentlessly grows.
