The shortlists for the UK’s Jhalak Prize were announced on Thursday, April 18, 2024. These are the writers of African descent in the running.
The Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour is an annual literary prize awarded to British or British-resident BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) writers created by writers Sunny Singh and Nikesh Shukla in 2016. Some of the previous winners have been Jacob Ross, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Guy Gunaratne, Johny Pitts, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and Patrice Lawrence, and Travis Alabanza. In 2020, the award expanded to celebrate writing for Children & Young Adults.
The jury for 2024 are actress, director, and writer Anni Domingo, novelist Stella Oni, poet Denise Saul, author and screenwriter Danielle Jawando, author J. P. Rose, and award-winning children’s author Rashmi Sirdeshpande.
The longlists in the two prizes were announced on March 14 before the shortlist was made public today. The following writers of African descent made the list;
Fiction
Jury: Anni Domingo, Stella Oni, Denise Saul,
- Self-Portrait as Othello, Jason Allen-Paisant (Carcanet)
- Twelve Words for Moss, Elizabeth Jane Burnett (Penguin)
- Fire Rush, Jacqueline Crooks (Vintage)
- Anansi’s Gold: The Man Who Swindled The World, Yepoka Yeebo (Bloomsbury)
Children and Young Adult
Jury: Danielle Jawando, J. P. Rose, and Rashmi Sirdeshpande.
- How to Die Famous, Benjamin Dean (Simon & Schuster)
The winners will be announced at a ceremony in London, UK on Thursday, May 30, 2024.
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