'Unexpected' donations boost Jacaranda by £25k

Jacaranda Books has received "completely unexpected" anonymous donations totalling £25,000, honouring the independent press' commitment to "ground-breaking and diverse" books.

This news follows Jacaranda's reveal of a list of 20 Black British writers selected as part of its #Twentyin2020 initiative in partnership with Words of Colour, which was first launched in February 2018.

The campaign will publish "the provocative, inspirational writing of 20 Black British writers in the year 2020", featuring a newly-unveiled list of five poets, five non-fiction writers and 10 fiction authors. The publisher said the money honours its "commitment to publishing ground-breaking and diverse books".

A spokesperson for Jacaranda told The Bookseller: "We are unable to reveal any more details regarding the donations, other than to say that they were completely unexpected, and have demonstrated both the benefits of external funding for our diverse publishing programme, and the sincere interest and passion in supporting this work."

The spokesperson added: "We are open to partnerships, and very happy to welcome funding discussions from other parties who have an interest in developing greater diversity in our industry."

Earlier this month Jacaranda’s Seven Stones by Vénus Khoury-Ghata, translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins, was shortlisted for The Scott Moncrieff Prize, administered by the Society of Authors, while earlier this month the publisher announced the addition of Magdalene Abraha, formerly of Bloomsbury, to their team.

For more information on #Twentyin2020, email Magdalene Abraha on Magdalene@jacarandabooksartmusic.co.uk.