Jawando, Amuah, Sirdeshpande and Williams triumph at Diverse Book Awards

Danielle Jawando, Marie-Claire Amuah, Rashmi Sirdeshpande and J T Williams have been named winners of the Diverse Book Awards 2023, the annual prize celebrating outstanding inclusive books by authors and publishers based in the UK and Ireland.

Jawando’s When Our Worlds Collided (Simon & Schuster) triumphed in the YA category, with second place going to Love In Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello (Simon & Schuster) and third place to If You Still Recognise Me by Cynthia So (Little Tiger). 

Amuah scooped the Adult category award with One for Sorry, Two for Joy (Oneworld) while Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn (Viking) came second and The Attic Child by Lola Jaye (Pan Macmillan) came third.

Sirdeshpande took the crown in the Picture Books category with illustrator Ruchi Mhansane for Dadaji’s Paintbrush (Andersen Press) while Nour’s Secret Library by Wafa Tarnowska, illustrated by Vali Mintzi (Barefoot Books) came in second and Our Tower by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Richard Johnson (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books) came third.

Williams snapped up the Children’s award with The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries: Drama and Danger, illustrated by Simone Douglas (Farshore) with The Twig Man by Sana Rasoul (Hashtag Press) coming in second and A Flash of Fireflies by Aisha Bushby (Farshore) third.

The winners were announced at a ceremony held at Waterstones Piccadilly in London on 25th October.

Due to illness, Malorie Blackman was unable to attend in person to accept the inaugural Malorie Blackman Impact Award, but said: “I want to say a huge thank you to Abiola Bello and Helen Lewis for creating the Diverse Book Awards which I believe is now in its fourth year. They wanted to shine a spotlight on marginalised voices in the publishing world and that is indeed what they have done. I’m so honoured and humbled to launch the new Malorie Blackman Impact Award, to be given to those who have committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. I can think of no greater accolade than to have such an award named after me.”

This year also saw a Readers’ Choice Award for each of the four categories. Manjeet Mann won the Picture Books Award for Small’s Big Dream illustrated by Amanda Quartey, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, scooping 23.2% of the vote.

Sana Rasoul’s The Twig Man (Hashtag Press) got the Children’s gong with 21.2% of the vote, Abiola Bello’s Love In Winter (Simon & Schuster) snapped up the YA award with 21.6% of the vote and Reshma Rui won the Adult award with Still Lives (Renard Press) with 22.8% of the vote.

Helen Lewis, co-founder of The DBAs, said: “As always, it was a great atmosphere last night at The Diverse Book Awards party. We are grateful to everyone who made the effort to join us to celebrate the books that have been longlisted, shortlisted and of course the winners of The Diverse Book Awards 2023. What a privilege and honour to be in a room with so much incredible talent.”