Jhalak Prize
About
First awarded in March 2017, the Jhalak Prize awards seek to celebrate books by writers of colour in the UK and Ireland.
2026
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Submission window:
16 September 2025 –
12 December 2025
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Longlist announcement:
17 March 2026
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Shortlist announcement:
14 April 2026
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Winner announcement:
May/June 2026
date tbc
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How do I enter?
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Previous winners
Sponsor
In Hindi and many related Northern Indian dialects, Jhalak means ‘glimpse’; implicitly brief, often tantalising with promise, piquing curiosity to explore further. It seems an appropriate name for what I believe is the first prize for Book Of The Year By A Writer of Colour.
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The Jhalak Prize will recognise the vastness of talent, ambition and creative vigour that is often overlooked by an industry that has yet to decolonize its gaze and acknowledge that we do not live in world of lactified centres and rainbow peripheries.
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- The benefactor providing the prize money, who wishes to remain anonymous
