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Khan becomes first graphic novelist to win Jhalak Prize as Chan also triumphs
Graphic novelist Sabba Khan and children’s author Maisie Chan have won this year’s Jhalak Prize awards in a ceremony at the British Library in London.
Each winner was awarded £1,000 and received a specially created work of art as part of the ongoing Jhalak Art Residency.
Khan won the Jhalak Prize for her “impeccable” and “striking” graphic début novel The Roles We Play (Myriad Editions), which was praised by the judges as a “powerful, moving and thought-provoking story which shimmers with hard-earned wisdom and wonder”. It is the first time a graphic novel has won the prize.
Chan scooped the Jhalak Children’s and Young Adult Prize for her “warm and funny” children’s novel Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths (Piccadilly Press). Already shortlisted for the Blue Peter Awards 2022 and chosen as the Scottish Book Trust’s Book of the Month in July 2021, the novel was praised by the judges for “the warm-heartedness, humour and nuanced way it approaches the challenges of being a child negotiating multiple identities”.
Sunny Singh, prize director, said: “As ever, I am in awe of the Jhalak judges who bring such rigour, passion and generosity to the process every year, especially when picking winners from extraordinary shortlists appears a near impossible task. This year, the judges have picked two pioneering books that are courageous, full of heart and break new ground for publishing today and open pathways to writers and creatives of colour who shall follow.
“Maisie Chan’s Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths is a hilarious, heartwarming read that is timely and timeless and will surely become a beloved book of middle-grade readers. It is also one of the rare – and brilliant – representations of British Chinese families in children’s literature today. Sabba Khan’s sumptuous graphic memoir, The Roles We Play, is the first graphic work to win the Jhalak Prize and is an exemplar of great storytelling that defies conventions, boundaries and genres. Its impeccable balance of words and images demonstrates a storyteller in full control of her craft and is moving, powerful and inspirational. These are two books for the new literary canon!”
Judges for this year’s prize were authors Mary Jean Chan, Chimene Suleyman and Stephen Thompson. The judges for the Jhalak Children’s and Young Adult Prize 2022 were authors Sufiya Ahmed, Nii Ayikwei Parkes and Patrice Lawrence.
Previous winners of the prize include Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Patrice Lawrence, Johny Pitts, Guy Gunaratne, Reni Eddo-Lodge and Jacob Ross.
