Shukla, Mir and Mann longlisted for Jhalak Prizes

Nikesh Shukla, Saima Mir and Manjeet Mann are among those longlisted for this year’s Jhalak Prizes. 

The two Jhalak Prize awards celebrate writing by British and British resident writers of colour and annually awards £1,000 to two winners. The winners also receive a unique work of art created for the prize by artists of colour under the Jhalak Art Residency. 

Shukla’s Brown Baby (Bluebird) and Mir’s The Khan (Point Blank) are among 12 “exceptional” books vying for the Book of the Year award, while Mann’s The Crossing (PRH Children’s), which won the Costa Children’s Book Award, is in contention for the Children’s and Young Adult Prize along with Malorie Blackman & Dapo Adeola’s We’re Going to Find the Monster (Puffin Books). 

Commenting on the longlists, prize director Sunny Singh said: "In the sixth year of the Jhalak Prize, and second for our dedicated Children’s & Young Adult Prize, there is so much to celebrate, starting with a larger number of submissions than ever before. Our longlists this year demonstrate the extraordinary variety and quality of work being produced by writers of colour in Britain and ranging from pioneering fiction and luminous poetry to insightful non-fiction. Each of these books defy conventions, expand writing repertoires into new genres, and break new ground in form, technique and style. These are books to savour, to love and remember long after the last page!" 

Authors Mary Jean Chan, Chimene Suleyman and Stephen Thompson are judging this year’s Book of the Year prize, while Sufiya Ahmed, Nii Ayikwei Parkes and Patrice Lawrence will decide the winner of the Children and Young Adult Prize.

National Book Tokens is continuing to support the prize, helping increase awareness for the nominated titles amongst bookshops across the UK and Ireland. Twelve bookshop champions—independent bookshops championing one title each from the Jhalak Prize shortlists—will be announced alongside the shortlists on 19th April.

The winners of the prizes will be revealed on 26th May.  

Last year’s prize was won by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi for The First Woman (Oneworld Publications). The Children’s and Young Adult Prize was won by Patrice Lawrence for Eight Pieces of Silva (Hachette Children’s). 

The longlists in full  

Jhalak Prize for the Book of the Year: 
 
Consumed, Arifa Akbar (Sceptre) 
Somebody Loves You, Mona Arshi (And Other Stories) 
Gay Bar, Jeremy Atherton Lin (Granta) 
Like a Tree, Walking, Vahni Capildeo (Carcanet) 
A Blood Condition, Kayo Chingonyi (Chatto & Windus) 
Keeping the House, Tice Cin (And Other Stories) 
The Roles We Play, Sabba Khan (Myriad) 
Honorifics, Cynthia Miller (Nine Arches Press) 
Things I Have Withheld, Kei Miller (Canongate Books) 
The Khan, Saima Mir (Point Blank) 
Things We Do Not Tell People We Love, Huma Qureshi (Sceptre) 
Brown Baby, Nikesh Shukla (Bluebird) 
 

Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize: 
 
Ace of Spades, Faridah Àbíkí-Íyímídé (Usborne) 
How Was That Built: The Stories Behind Awesome Structures, Roma Agrawal & Katie Hickey (Bloomsbury) 
Lionheart Girl, Yaba Badoe (Head of Zeus) 
We’re Going to Find the Monster, Malorie Blackman & Dapo Adeola (Puffin Books) 
The Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs, Jeffrey Boakye, illustrated by Ngadi Smart (Faber & Faber) 
Afterlove, Tanya Byrne (Hodder Children’s Books) 
Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths, Maisie Chan (Piccadilly Press) 
Luna Loves Dance, Joseph Coelho & Fiona Lumbers (Andersen Press) 
Grown: The Black Girls’ Guide to Glowing Up, Melissa Cummings-Quarry & Natalie A Carter, illustrated by Dorcas Magbadelo (Bloomsbury) 
Rumaysa, A Fairy Tale, Radiya Hafiza, illustrated by Rhaida El Touny (Macmillan Children’s Books) 
The Sound of Everything, Rebecca Henry (Everything With Words) 
The Crossing, Manjeet Mann (Penguin Random House Children’s)