Jhalak Prize

Jhalak Prize
Jhalak Prize
Awarded for	Book of the year by a writer of colour
Country	United Kingdom
Reward	£1,000
First award	2017; 9 years ago
Website	Official website

The Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour is an annual literary prize awarded to British or British-resident BAME writers. £1,000 is awarded to the sole winner.

The Jhalak Prize was launched in 2016 and was created by writers Sunny Singh, Nikesh Shukla, and Media Diversified. It is supported by The Authors’ Club and by The Jhalak Foundation, owned by Professor Singh's family. The prize and foundation are named after Professor Singh's grandmother. It is the second literary prize in the UK to only accept entries by writers of colour, following the SI Leeds Literary Prize for BAME women writers, which was first awarded in 2012. In 2017, the comedian Shappi Khorsandi withdrew her novel from the longlist because she said she felt that "my skin colour was up for an award rather than my book". Consequentially, the prize was reported to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, but the complaint was not upheld, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission stated in 2017 that "this award is the type of action which the Commission supports and recommends".

In 2020, a sister award, the Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize, was founded.

From 2025 onwards the prize was divided into two separate awards for prose and poetry.

Jhalak Prize (2017–2024) recipients

Jhalak Prize winners and shortlists
Year	Author	Title	Publisher	Result
2017	Jacob Ross	The Bone Readers		Winner
	Kiran Millwood Hargrave	The Girl of Ink and Stars	The Chicken House	Shortlist
	Abir Mukherjee	A Rising Man	Harvill Secker	Shortlist
	Irenosen Okojie	Speak Gigantular	Jacaranda Books	Shortlist
	David Olusoga	Black and British: A Forgotten History	Macmillan Publishers	Shortlist
	Gary Younge	Another Day In The Death Of America	Faber	Shortlist
2018	Reni Eddo-Lodge	Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race		Winner
	Nadeem Aslam	The Golden Legend	Faber	Shortlist
	Kayo Chingonyi	Kumukanda	Chatto & Windus	Shortlist
	Xiaolu Guo	Once Upon a Time in the East	Chatto & Windus	Shortlist
	Meena Kandasamy	When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife	Atlantic Books	Shortlist
	Kiran Millwood-Hargrave	The Island at the End of Everything	The Chicken House	Shortlist
2019	Guy Gunaratne	In Our Mad and Furious City		Winner
	Akala	Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire	Two Roads	Shortlist
	Roma Agrawal	Built: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Structures	Bloomsbury	Shortlist
	Raymond Antrobus	The Perseverance	Penned in the Margins	Shortlist
	Aminatta Forna	Happiness	Bloomsbury	Shortlist
	Onjali Q. Raúf	The Boy at the Back of the Class	Orion Children's Books	Shortlist
2020	Johny Pitts	Afropean: Notes From Black Europe		Winner
	Dean Atta	The Black Flamingo	Hodder Children's	Shortlist
	Yvonne Battle-Felton	Remembered	Dialogue Books	Shortlist
	Candice Carty-Williams	Queenie	Orion	Shortlist
	Mary Jean Chan	Flèche	Faber	Shortlist
	Romesh Gunesekera	Suncatcher	Bloomsbury	Shortlist
2021	Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi	The First Woman		Winner
	Romalyn Ante	Antiemetic for Homesickness	Chatto & Windus	Shortlist
	Catherine Cho	Inferno	Bloomsbury	Shortlist
	Rachel Long	My Darling From the Lions	Picador	Shortlist
	Katy Massey	Are We Home Yet	Jacaranda Books	Shortlist
	Paul Mendez	Rainbow Milk	Dialogue Books	Shortlist
2022	Sabba Khan	The Roles We Play		Winner
	Arifa Akbar	Consumed	Sceptre	Shortlist
	Mona Arshi	Somebody Loves You	And Other Stories	Shortlist
	Vahni Capildeo	Like a Tree, Walking	Carcenet Press	Shortlist
	Tice Cin	Keeping the House	And Other Stories	Shortlist
	Kei Miller	Things I Have Withheld	Canongate Books	Shortlist
2023	Travis Alabanza	None of the Above		Winner
	Ayanna Lloyd Banwo	When We Were Birds	Hamish Hamilton	Shortlist
	Angela Hui	Takeaway	Trapeze	Shortlist
	Paterson Joseph	The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho	Dialogue Books	Shortlist
	Sheena Patel	I'm a Fan	Rough Trade Books	Shortlist
	Anita Pati	Hiding to Nothing	Liverpool University Press	Shortlist
2024	Yepoka Yeebo	Anansi's Gold: The man who swindled the world	Bloomsbury	Winner
	Jason Allen-Paisant	Self-Portrait as Othello	Carcanet	Shortlist
	Elizabeth-Jane Burnett	Twelve Words for Moss	Penguin	Shortlist
	Jacqueline Crooks	Fire Rush	Vintage	Shortlist
	Noreen Masud	A Flat Place	Penguin	Shortlist
	Ami Rao	Boundary Road	Everything With Words	Shortlist

↑ The 2017 judges were Sunny Singh, Catherine Johnson, Yvvette Edwards, Musa Okwonga, and Alex Wheatle.
↑ The 2018 judges were Sunny Singh, Catherine Johnson, Tanya Byrne, Vera Chok, and Noo Saro-Wiwa.
↑ The 2019 judges were Anna Perera, Sabrina Mahfouz, Sarah Shaffi, and Siana Bangura.
↑ The 2020 judges were Roy McFarlane, Anita Sethi, Nikesh Shukla, and Kerry Young.
↑ The 2021 judges were Yvonne Battle-Felton, Louise Doughty and Peter Kalu.
↑ The 2022 judges were Mary Jean Chan, Chimene Suleyman and Stephen S. Thompson.
↑ The 2023 judges were Haleh Agar, Yaba Badoe, Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Maisie Chan, Irfan Master and Monisha Rajesh.
↑ The 2024 judges were Anni Domingo, Danielle Jawando, Stella Oni, J. P. Rose, Denise Saul and Rashmi Sirdeshpande.

Prose Prize

Jhalak Prose Prize winners and shortlists
Year	Author	Title	Result
2025	N.S. Nuseibeh	Namesake	Winner
	Maame Blue	The Rest of You	Shortlist
	Aniefiok Ekpoudom	Where We Come From
	Ashani Lewis	Everest
	Hisham Matar	My Friends
	Varaidzo	Manny and the Baby
2026	Diana Evans	I Want to Talk to You	Winner
	Tash Aw	The South	Shortlist
	Funmi Fetto	Hail Mary
	Katie Goh	Foreign Fruit
	Xiaolu Guo	Call Me Ishmaelle
	Pete Kalu	Act Normal: Joy and Despair in Postcolonial Britain

Poetry Prize

Jhalak Poetry Prize winners and shortlists
Year	Author	Title	Result
2025	Mimi Khalvati	Collected Poems	Winner
	Amaan Hyder	Self-Portrait with Family	Shortlist
	Karen McCarthy Woolf	Top Doll
	Gboyega Odubanjo	Adam
	Azad Ashim Sharma	Boiled Owls
	Rushika Wick	Horse
2026	Maggie Harris	I Sing to the Greenhearts	Winner
	Ashley Hickson-Lovence	Why I am not a bus driver	Shortlist
	Sarah Howe	Foretokens
	Lady Red Ego	My Dearest Friend
	Nick Makoha	The New Carthaginians
	Andrés N. Ordorica	Holy Boys

Children's and Young Adult Prize recipients

Jhalak Children's and Young Adult Prize winners and shortlists
Year	Author	Title	Publisher	Result
2021	Patrice Lawrence	Eight Pieces of Silva		Winner
	Nii Ayikwei Parkes and Avril Filomeno	The GA Picture Alphabet	Kane Series	Shortlist
	Kereen Getten	When Life Gives You Mangoes	Pushkin Children's
	Danielle Jawando	And the Stars Were Burning Brightly	Simon & Schuster
	Catherine Johnson	Queen of Freedom	Pushkin Children's
	Margaret Sturton	A Fox Called Herbert	Andersen Press
2022	Maisie Chan	Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths	Piccadilly Press	Winner
	Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé	Ace of Spades	Usborne Publishing	Shortlist
	Malorie Blackman and Dapo Adeola	We're Going to Find the Monster	Puffin Books
	Jeffrey Boakye, illus by Ngadi Smart	The Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs	Faber
	Rebecca Henry	The Sound of Everything	Everything With Words
	Manjeet Mann	The Crossing	Penguin
2023	Danielle Jawando	When our Worlds Collided	Simon & Schuster	Winner
	Lucy Farfort	In Our Hands	Tate	Shortlist
	Janelle McCurdy, illus by Ana Latese	Mia and the Lightcasters	Faber
	Christine Pillainayagam	Ellie Pillai Is Brown	Faber
	Ann Sei Lin	Rebel Skies	Walker Books
	Rashmi Sirdeshpande, illus. by Ruchi Mhasane	Dadaji’s Paintbrush	Andersen Press
2024	Hiba Noor Khan	Safiyyah's War	Andersen Press	Winner
	Nadia Shireen	Geoffrey Gets The Jitters	Penguin Random House	Shortlist
	Benjamin Dean	How to Die Famous	Simon & Schuster
	Nathaneal Lessore	Steady for This	Hot Key Books
	Erika Meza	To the Other Side	Hachette Children's
	Candy Gourlay	Wild Song	David Fickling
2025	Nathanael Lessore	King of Nothing		Winner
	Lanisha Butterfield and Hoang Giang	Flower Block		Shortlist
	Dev Kothari	Bringing Back Kay-Kay
	Ayaan Mohamud	The Thread That Connects Us
	Chibundu Onuzo	Mayowa and the Sea of Words
	Ashley Thorpe	The Thread That Connects Us
2026	Fidan Meikle	My Name is Samim		Winner
	Truly Johnston	The Shell Keepers		Shortlist
	Manjeet Mann	Roar
	Chanté Timothy	Supa Nova
	Kenechi Udogu	Augmented
	Forest Xiao	How to Catch an Idea

Notes

References

↑ "JHALAK FOUNDATION overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
↑ Culture, OxStu (30 May 2020). "Sunny Singh talks about the turbulent first few years of the Jhalak prize". The Oxford Student. Archived from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
↑ Cain, Sian (6 January 2017). "Shappi Khorsandi withdraws book from Jhalak prize longlist". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
↑ "Jhalak Prize". Media Diversified. 10 September 2018. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
↑ "Jhalak Prize controversy". State Sponsored Literature. 5 June 2020. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
↑ Wood, Heloise (30 January 2018). "Independent presses dominate Jhalak Prize longlist". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
↑ "About the Jhalak Prize". Jhalak Prize. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
↑ Cain, Sian (17 March 2017). "Caribbean crime thriller wins inaugural prize for only BAME writers". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
↑ "Awards: Bancroft; Jhalak; Tony Ryan". Shelf Awareness. 20 March 2017. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
1 2 3 4 5 "Awards: Jhalak Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 7 February 2017. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
↑ Flood, Alison (15 March 2018). "Reni Eddo-Lodge wins Jhalak prize for British writers of colour". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
↑ "Awards: Jhalak Winner; LBF International Excellence". Shelf Awareness. 19 March 2018. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
1 2 3 4 5 "Awards: Tufts Poetry Winners; Jhalak Prize Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 21 February 2018. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
↑ Taylor, Jack (1 May 2019). "'The London book of our lifetime': Guy Gunaratne wins Jhalak prize". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
↑ "Awards: Wellcome Book; Jhalak; Prix Voltaire". Shelf Awareness. 3 May 2019. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
1 2 3 4 5 "Awards: Rathbones Folio Finalists; Jhalak Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 9 April 2019. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
↑ Cain, Sian (26 May 2020). "Johny Pitts wins Jhalak prize for 'beautiful' history of black Europe". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
↑ "Awards: Jhalak Winner". Shelf Awareness. 29 May 2020. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
1 2 3 4 5 "Awards: Jhalak Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 16 April 2020. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
1 2 Flood, Alison (25 May 2021). "Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and Patrice Lawrence win Jhalak prizes for writers of colour". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
1 2 "Awards: Reading the West, Jhalak Winners". Shelf Awareness. 1 June 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "Shortlist announced for 2021 Jhalak Prize for BAME writers". Books+Publishing. 14 April 2021. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "Awards: Whiting Winners; Jhalak and Sheikh Zayed Shortlists". Shelf Awareness. 15 April 2021. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
1 2 Mechler, Anita; Merlene, Kate (2 June 2022). "Sabba Khan Wins the 2022 Jhalak Prize". Library Journal. Archived from the original on 19 November 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "Jhalak Prize 2022 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 20 April 2022. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "Awards: Oates Winner; Jhalak Shortlists". Shelf Awareness. 20 April 2022. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
1 2 "Alabanza, Jawando win 2023 Jhalak Prizes". Books+Publishing. 29 May 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
1 2 "Awards: Plutarch, Jhalak Winners". Shelf Awareness. 26 May 2023. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "Jhalak Prize 2023 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 20 April 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Prize: 2024 Shortlist". Jhalak Prize. Archived from the original on 20 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
1 2 "Jhalak prizes 2024 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
1 2 Creamer, Ella (4 June 2025). "British-Palestinian writer NS Nuseibeh wins Jhalak prose prize for writers of colour". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
1 2 "The Prize - Children's & YA". Jhalak Prize. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
↑ Wood, Heloise (4 June 2025). "Mimi Khalvati, NS Nuseibeh and Nathanael Lessore win the 2025 Jhalak Prizes". The Bookseller. Retrieved 10 June 2025.

External links

Official website
Sunny Singh, "First year of Jhalak Prize paints a grim picture of diversity in publishing", Media Diversified, 19 September 2017.

[8] The 2017 judges were Sunny Singh, Catherine Johnson, Yvvette Edwards, Musa Okwonga, and Alex Wheatle.

[12] The 2018 judges were Sunny Singh, Catherine Johnson, Tanya Byrne, Vera Chok, and Noo Saro-Wiwa.

[16] The 2019 judges were Anna Perera, Sabrina Mahfouz, Sarah Shaffi, and Siana Bangura.

[20] The 2020 judges were Roy McFarlane, Anita Sethi, Nikesh Shukla, and Kerry Young.

[24] The 2021 judges were Yvonne Battle-Felton, Louise Doughty and Peter Kalu.

[29] The 2022 judges were Mary Jean Chan, Chimene Suleyman and Stephen S. Thompson.

[33] The 2023 judges were Haleh Agar, Yaba Badoe, Anthony Vahni Capildeo, Maisie Chan, Irfan Master and Monisha Rajesh.

[37] The 2024 judges were Anni Domingo, Danielle Jawando, Stella Oni, J. P. Rose, Denise Saul and Rashmi Sirdeshpande.

[1] "JHALAK FOUNDATION overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.

[2] Culture, OxStu (30 May 2020). "Sunny Singh talks about the turbulent first few years of the Jhalak prize". The Oxford Student. Archived from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.

[3] Cain, Sian (6 January 2017). "Shappi Khorsandi withdraws book from Jhalak prize longlist". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2023.

[4] "Jhalak Prize". Media Diversified. 10 September 2018. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.

[5] "Jhalak Prize controversy". State Sponsored Literature. 5 June 2020. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.

[6] Wood, Heloise (30 January 2018). "Independent presses dominate Jhalak Prize longlist". The Bookseller. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.

[7] "About the Jhalak Prize". Jhalak Prize. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2024.

[9] Cain, Sian (17 March 2017). "Caribbean crime thriller wins inaugural prize for only BAME writers". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.

[10] "Awards: Bancroft; Jhalak; Tony Ryan". Shelf Awareness. 20 March 2017. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[shelfshort2017-11] 1 2 3 4 5 "Awards: Jhalak Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 7 February 2017. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[13] Flood, Alison (15 March 2018). "Reni Eddo-Lodge wins Jhalak prize for British writers of colour". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[14] "Awards: Jhalak Winner; LBF International Excellence". Shelf Awareness. 19 March 2018. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[shelfshort2018-15] 1 2 3 4 5 "Awards: Tufts Poetry Winners; Jhalak Prize Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 21 February 2018. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[17] Taylor, Jack (1 May 2019). "'The London book of our lifetime': Guy Gunaratne wins Jhalak prize". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2020.

[18] "Awards: Wellcome Book; Jhalak; Prix Voltaire". Shelf Awareness. 3 May 2019. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[shelfshort2019-19] 1 2 3 4 5 "Awards: Rathbones Folio Finalists; Jhalak Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 9 April 2019. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[21] Cain, Sian (26 May 2020). "Johny Pitts wins Jhalak prize for 'beautiful' history of black Europe". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.

[22] "Awards: Jhalak Winner". Shelf Awareness. 29 May 2020. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[shelfshort2020-23] 1 2 3 4 5 "Awards: Jhalak Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 16 April 2020. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[flood-25] 1 2 Flood, Alison (25 May 2021). "Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and Patrice Lawrence win Jhalak prizes for writers of colour". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.

[shelfwin2022-26] 1 2 "Awards: Reading the West, Jhalak Winners". Shelf Awareness. 1 June 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[short2021-27] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Shortlist announced for 2021 Jhalak Prize for BAME writers". Books+Publishing. 14 April 2021. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.

[shelfshort2021-28] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Awards: Whiting Winners; Jhalak and Sheikh Zayed Shortlists". Shelf Awareness. 15 April 2021. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[mechler-30] 1 2 Mechler, Anita; Merlene, Kate (2 June 2022). "Sabba Khan Wins the 2022 Jhalak Prize". Library Journal. Archived from the original on 19 November 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2022.

[short2022-31] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Jhalak Prize 2022 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 20 April 2022. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.

[shelfshort2022-32] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Awards: Oates Winner; Jhalak Shortlists". Shelf Awareness. 20 April 2022. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[win2023-34] 1 2 "Alabanza, Jawando win 2023 Jhalak Prizes". Books+Publishing. 29 May 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.

[shelfwin2023-35] 1 2 "Awards: Plutarch, Jhalak Winners". Shelf Awareness. 26 May 2023. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.

[short2023-36] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Jhalak Prize 2023 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 20 April 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.

[short2024-38] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Prize: 2024 Shortlist". Jhalak Prize. Archived from the original on 20 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.

[:0-39] 1 2 "Jhalak prizes 2024 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 3 June 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.

[tg_jun_25-40] 1 2 Creamer, Ella (4 June 2025). "British-Palestinian writer NS Nuseibeh wins Jhalak prose prize for writers of colour". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2025.

[childshort2024-41] 1 2 "The Prize - Children's & YA". Jhalak Prize. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2024.

[42] Wood, Heloise (4 June 2025). "Mimi Khalvati, NS Nuseibeh and Nathanael Lessore win the 2025 Jhalak Prizes". The Bookseller. Retrieved 10 June 2025.