Jhalak Prize Announces Longlists for 10th Year Celebrating Writers of Colour in Children's Books

Today, 17th March 2026, the Jhalak Prize announced its longlists for the Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize. The longlists mark a decade of the Jhalak Prize and exemplify the excellence that the Prize seeks to celebrate.

What is the Jhalak Prize?

In 10 years, the Jhalak Prize has grown from a single all-encompassing prize to a portfolio of three awards: the Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize, the Jhalak Poetry Prize and the Jhalak Prose Prize, all celebrating the creativity, imagination and scholarly achievements of writers of colour in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Prize director, Sunny Singh commented, "The past decade of the Jhalak Prize is a testament to the range and quality of work by writers of colour in Britain, and their commitment and determination to publish and reach readers.

The Judges

Jacob Ross, the first ever Jhalak Prize winner (and judge this year) described each book on the 2026 Jhalak Prize longlists as a powerful act of creative resistance.

In robust and passionate discussions, the judges found it challenging to select only twelve books for each longlist, describing the process as ‘an honour and heartache.'

The Jhalak Prize is an act of love, of family-making with our fellow authors, and I am incredibly proud of the writers who have become part of the Jhalak family as long and shortlisted authors, winners and judges."

The Judges for the Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize 2026 are authors Sita Brahmachari, Lanisha Butterfield and Christine Pillainayagam. Brahmachari was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize in 2018. Butterfield was shortlisted for Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize in 2025 and Pillainayagam in 2023.

Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize Longlists 2026

A Taste of Home by Maryam Hassan, Anna Wilson

Augmented by Kenechi Udogu

Girl, Ultra-Processed by Amara Sage

How to Catch an Idea by Forest Xiao

I Can’t Even Think Straight by Dean Atta

My Name is Samim by Fidan Meikle

My Soul, A Shining Tree by Jamila Gavin

Roar by Manjeet Mann

Songs for Ghosts by Clara Kumagai

Supa Nova by Chanté Timothy

The Shell Keepers by Truly Johnston

Wild Journey by A.M. Dassu, illustrated by Joe Lillington

The three Jhalak Prize awards celebrate writing by BAME writers living in the United Kingdom and Ireland and annually award £1,000 to three winners. The Jhalak Prize’s ongoing partnership with National Book Tokens sees bookshops up and down the country championing the prize, each year reaching new reading communities.

Furthermore, two artists of colour are annually commissioned to create unique works of art that serves as trophies for the winners of the Jhalak Poetry Prize and Jhalak Prose Prize. A children’s book illustrator of colour is commissioned to create a unique work for the winner of the Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize.