Celebrating the Jhalak Prize 2024 (In person)
First awarded in March 2017, the Jhalak Prize and its sister award Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize, founded in 2020, seek to celebrate books by British/British resident BAME writers. Recognising some extraordinary talent over the last five years, previous winners have included Jacob Ross, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Guy Gunaratne, Johny Pitts, Patrice Lawrence, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Sabba Khan, Travis Alabanza, Danielle Jawando and Maisie Chan.
Ahead of the winner announcement (which takes place on 30th May), we invite you to join us at The London Library for drinks, discussion and chat. Hear about the prize itself and the process of judging it from Jhalak Prize judge Anni Domingo, Jhalak Children's & Young Adult Prize judge JP Rose and prize founderSunny Singh in conversation with author Isabelle Dupuy, followed by readings from some of the shortlisted authors, including Jason Allen-Paisant, Benjamin Dean, Candy Gourlay, Hiba Noor Khan, Noreen Masud, Ami Rao and Yepoka Yeebo.
Doors (and the bar) open at 7pm, with discussion and readings from 7.30. Drinks are included with the ticket.
Anni Domingo is an actress, director and writer working across radio, TV, film and theatre. Her debut novel, Breaking the Maafa Chain, was published in 2021, by Jacaranda Books, UK and by Pegasus Books, USA in 2022. Her writing has been published in various anthologies including Wild Imperfections (Penguin, 2021) and New Daughters of Africa (Myriad Editions, 2019) and her first screenplay, Blessed Assurance will be out later this year.
JP Rose is passionate about creating inclusive, diverse and empowering books for children. Her work includes the teen psychological horror book, The Haunting of Tyrese Walker, which has been short and longlisted for several awards, and a forthcoming historical middle-grade novel. She is also the bestselling author of over 16 gritty crime novels for adults, written under the name of Jacqui Rose, and she has recently collaborated with Martina Cole on Martina’s latest novel.
Sunny Singh is a writer, novelist, public intellectual and founder of the Jhalak Prize and the Jhalak Foundation, which is focused on a range of literary, artistic and literacy initiatives in the UK and beyond. Her books include the highly acclaimed novel Hotel Arcadia, a study of Amitabh Bachchan for the BFI’s film star series and A Bollywood State of Mind: A journey into the world's biggest cinema.
Isabelle Dupuy grew up in Haiti, has lived in America and came to the UK to work on a City trading floor before becoming an author. Her first novel Living the Dream was shortlisted for the Diverse Book Awards 2021. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, Bad Form Review, Black Ballad, the Bookseller, the RLF's Writer's Mosaic and more. She is a trustee of The London Library.
This is part of an ongoing partnership between the Jhalak Prize and The London Library.
Books by contributors are available to buy from our partner bookshop Hatchards and will be available at the Library during the event.
You can find information on the Jhalak Prize here.
NB This event will take place in person at The London Library. Please see our Event Access Guidelines before you arrive.
London Library events are subject to Terms and Conditions.
