Jhalak Prize 2026 shortlists announced

The shortlists for the 2026 Jhalak Prize have been announced, celebrating the best books by writers and illustrators of colour in the UK and Ireland.

This year also marks the Prize's tenth anniversary celebrations, reflecting a decade of books that 'excavate histories, push boundaries and lead us to brighter imagined and possible worlds'.

Categories for the Jhalak Prize include fiction and non-fiction, poetry and books for children and young adults. The Prize annually awards £1000 to each winner along with a unique work of art created by artists chosen for the annual Jhalak Art Residency.

Jhalak Prize 2026 Shortlists

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