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Diverse Book Awards reveals 24-strong shortlists
The shortlists have been revealed for the Diverse Book Awards, with 24 books and authors nominated across three categories.
Now in their third year, the awards were created by author Abiola Bello and publicist Helen Lewis.
There are three categories – Adult, YA and Children’s – with the winners officially announced on 20th October at a party in Waterstones Piccadilly. This is the first time the awards have been able to celebrate at an in-person event, due to the pandemic.
Bello said: “It was a challenging but fun task to get the shortlist together, each of the judges had their favourites. We’re so happy with our list and know that any one of these amazing books could go on to win The Diverse Book Awards 2022. We’re excited to reveal the winners and want to thank all the booksellers, librarians, readers and publishers who have supported the longlist and who we hope will now help spread the word about the shortlist. We have had so much amazing support for the Diverse Book Awards and hope everyone can buy books from this amazing list.”
Lewis, a publicist at Literally PR, said: “We are very grateful to the amazing judges for their time deciding on this important longlist and shortlist. Reading so many incredible books and being faced with the decision of which should make it into each list is a very tough job – there are so many wonderful diverse and inclusive books in the UK today. We cannot wait to see what kind of reception the shortlist gets.”
The winner from each category will receive a bundle of prizes including a glass trophy, VIP admission to 12 months of author marketing and branding online workshops hosted by Literally PR, editorial content in Pen&Inc and the opportunity to be part of the winners panel hosted by The Author School. That Playlist Book Box will create a limited edition winners’ book box.
The YA and Children’s winner will have a dedicated page on the Peters website and a book signing at Wonderland Bookshop. This year’s Children’s winner will also be part of an online panel hosted by Madeleine Milburn Literary Agency, featured as a World Book Day UK Book Club pick and be part of Big Wig Children’s Festival at the Wigtown Book Festival. The YA winner will be part of the National Teen Book Club, a UK wide virtual book club for teens and Wigtown YA at the Wigtown Book Festival.
The shortlists in full:
Adult
Black Water Sister by Zen Cho (Pan Macmillan)
His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie (Oneworld)
Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah (HQ)
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson (Viking Books)
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak (Viking Books)
The Day I Fell Off My Island by Yvonne Bailey-Smith (Myriad Editions)
The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson (HQ)
This One Sky Day by Leone Ross (Faber)
Young Adult
Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Usborne)
Being Amani by Annabelle Steele (Hashtag BLAK)
Skin of The Sea by Natasha Bowen (Penguin Random House Children’s)
Splinters of Sunshine by Patrice Lawrence (Hodder Children’s Books)
The Crossing by Manjeet Mann (Penguin Random House Children’s)
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar (Hodder Children’s Books)
What We’re Scared Of by Keren David (Scholastic)
You’re The One That I Want by Simon James Green (Scholastic)
Children’s
Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths by Maisie Chan, illustrated by Anh Cao (Piccadilly Press)
Hey You! by Dapo Adeola, Diane Ewan, Onyinye Iwu, Jade Orlando, Bec Glendining, Derick Brooks, Joelle Avelino, Dunni Mustapha, Kingsley Nebechi, Chanté Timothy, Nicole Miles, Camilla Sucre, Jobe Anderson, Alyissa Johnson, Chatlot Kristensen, Sharee Miller, Reggie Brown, Selom Sunu, Gladys Jose (Penguin Random House Children’s)
How I Saved the World In A Week by Polly Ho-Yen, illustrated by George Ermos (Simon & Schuster Children’s)
Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow by Benjamin Dean, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat (Simon & Schuster Children’s)
The Best Diwali Ever by Sonali Shah, illustrator Chaaya Prabhat (Scholastic)
The Lightning Catcher by Claire Weze (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
The Shark Caller by Zillah Bethell (Usborne)
The Very Merry Murder Club by Abiola Bello, Annabelle Sami, Benjamin Dean, Dominique Valente, Elle McNicoll, E L Norry, Maisie Chan, Roopa Farooki, Nizrana Farook, Patrice Lawrence, Joanna Williams, Serena Patel, Sharna Jackson, illustrated by Harry Woodgate. Edited by Robin Stevens and Serena Patel (Farshore)
