Win the Jhalak Prize 2026 shortlists!

The Jhalak Prize celebrates the very best books by writers and illustrators of colour in the UK and Ireland.

This year's shortlists have been announced amidst the Prize's tenth anniversary celebrations, marking a decade of books that 'excavate histories, push boundaries and lead us to brighter imagined and possible worlds'.

From sparkling fiction and non-fiction to poetry that encompasses a broad spectrum of themes, experiences and styles, right through to groundbreaking books for children and young adults, these lists reflect the creativity, imagination and scholarly excellence of writers of colour in the UK and Ireland.

We have three sets of each shortlist to give away, so nine lucky winners can discover these breathtaking books. Enter below and tell us if you'd like to win the Jhalak Prose Prize, Jhalak Poetry Prize or the Jhalak Children's & YA Prize shortlist!

Jhalak Prose Prize 2026 shortlist

• Act Normal: Joy and Despair in Postcolonial Britain by Pete Kalu
• Call Me Ishmaelle by Xiaolu Guo
• Foreign Fruit by Katie Goh
• Hail Mary by Funmi Fetto
• I Want to Talk to You by Diana Evans
• The South by Tash Aw

Jhalak Children's & YA Prize 2026 shortlist

• Augmented by Kenechi Udogu
• How to Catch an Idea by Forest Xiao
• My Name is Samim by Fidan Miekle
• Roar by Manjeet Mann
• Supa Nova by Chanté Timothy
• The Shell Keepers by Truly Johnson 

Jhalak Poetry Prize 2026 shortlist

• Foretokens by Sarah Howe
• Holy Boys by Andres N. Ordorica
• I Sing to the Greenhearts by Maggie Harris
• My Dearest Friend by Lady Red Ego
• The New Carthaginians by Nick Makoha
• Why I am not a Bus Driver by Ashley Hickson-Lovence

Find out how we work with the Jhalak Prize to celebrate these brilliant lists with bookshops across the UK and Ireland, and find the shortlisted and longlisted books on the shelves in a bookshop near you.