The longlists for the Jhalak Prize 2021, for adults, YA, and Children were announced today, March 9, 2021.
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. The Jhalak Prize, launched in 2016, was created by writers Sunny Singh and Nikesh Shukla as well as Media Diversified. Previous winners of the award have been Jacob Ross (2017), Reni Eddo-Lodge (2018), Guy Gunaratne (2019), and Johny Pitts (2020).
The judges for the 2021 edition of the prize for adults are Yvonne Battle-Felton, Louise Doughty, and Peter Kalu and they have revealed that longlist. They are;
Romalyn Ante – Antiemetic for Homesickness (Chatto & Windus)
Catherine Cho – Inferno (Bloomsbury Circus)
Afshan D’Souza-Lodhi – [re: desire] (Burning Eye Books)
Caleb Femi – Poor (Penguin)
Kiran Millwood Hargrave – The Mercies (Picador)
Tammye Huf – A More Perfect Union (Myriad Editions)
Rachel Long – My Darling From the Lions (Picador)
Deirdre Mask – The Address Book (Profile Books)
Katy Massey – Are We Home Yet (jacaranda)
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi – The First Woman (Oneworld Publications)
Paul Mendez – Rainbow Milk (Dialogue Books)
Stephanie Scott – What’s Left of Me Is Yours (W&N)
This year, the prize organisers have included Children’s & YA literature in the books that get awards. Those categories are being judged by Verna Allette Wilkins, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, and Candy Gourlay. On their longlist there are;
Atinuke & Onyinye Iwu – Too Small Tola (Walker Books)
Nii Ayikwei Parkes & Avril Filomeno – The GA Picture Alphabet (Kane Series)
Nizrana Farook – The Girl Who Stole An Elephant (Nosy Crow Ltd)
Kereen Getten – When Life Gives You Mangoes (Pushkin Children’s Books)
Emma Hill – Baby Girl (self-published)
Danielle Jawondo – And the Stars Were Burning Brightly (Simon & Schuster)
Catherine Johnson – Queen of Freedom (Pushkin Children’s Books)
Hiba Noor Khan & Laura Chamberlain – The Little War Cat (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Patrice Lawrence – Eight Pieces of Silva (Hodder Children’s Books)
Bali Rai – Mohinder’s War (Bloomsbury Education)
Margaret Sturton – A Fox Called Herbert (Andersen Press)
Alex Wheatle – Cane Warriors (Andersen Press)
The shortlists will be announced on April 13 before the winner is revealed on May 25.
