EVENTS Jhalak Prize shortlistees
The Announcement and celebration of The Jhalak Prize, for British/British resident BAME writers, shortlistees was held in the esteemed Reading Room at The London Library on 18 May, 2023. Eva Wong Nava reports.
On 18 May an important celebration was held in this historical building and I was invited to join in as a guest by children’s author and SCBWI member, Maisie Chan. We were there to celebrate the shortlistees of the Jhalak Prize.
The Jhalak Prize for British/British resident BAME writers was established in 2016 by Professor Sunny Singh, author Nikesh Shukla, and non-profit Media Diversified. The Jhalak awarded its first prize in 2017. Three years later, The Children’s & YA Prize was established. Over the years, entries of picture books, middle-grade and young adult novels by BAME authors have increased, and the judges are picked from an established pool of award-winning BAME authors. This is great news in terms of representation. It is also a sign that the market is moving towards more diversity, though it still has a long way to go. A prize like the Jhalak is an important recognition of the diverse pool of talented authors-of-colour in the U.K. and every milestone is a celebration. Baby steps, as we say.
The 2023 judges for the Children’s & YA prize were Maisie Chan, Irfan Master and YabJoa Badoe.
Chan was the winner of the 2022 prize for her Middle-grade novel, Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths. She is also the founder of the Bubble Tea Writers Network, a loose network of BESEA (British East and Southeast Asian) writers and illustrators who are residents in the UK.
It was humbling to be amongst the greats. Portrait photos of authors past who were members of this private establishment decorate the walls. Their eyes glisten with life as they watch you climb the stairs.
The celebration was held in the Reading Room opened by Virginia Woolf’s father in 1896. Just knowing the history takes your breath away and you immediately get a whiff of the antique books lining the shelves above. It was heady just to be in this room!
This was followed by a reading from Rebel Skies by debut YA author Ann Sei Lin. Lin’s book was also shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award, another children’s award that rewards the most promising new authors and their editors in U.K. children’s writing and publishing.
I was there: you've captured it well. It really was a special evening.
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