Book awards season is in full swing now, with the announcement of the Diverse Book Awards longlist coming hot on the heels of the Booker longlist earlier this week.
To add even more excitement to this particular announcement, this is the first ever Diverse Book Awards longlist!
Writing community The Author School created the prize to showcase the talent of marginalised voices in British fiction back in November 2019.
“The level of interest in The Diverse Book Awards in its first year has been unprecedented,” Helen Lewis, co-founder of The Author School and book publicist at Literally PR, says.
“We are thrilled with the number of high quality submissions from publishing houses—big and small—as well as self-published authors and hybrid publishers.
“We really hope that next year brings even more self-published authors and indie publishers into the spotlight because it is often those who are pushing the boundaries of diversity and inclusivity in fiction.”
It’s great to see authors get recognition for all their hard work.
But, if you’re like us here at the “Friend”, these lists are also a great place to pick up your next great read!
The list
Children’s Literature
- “Son Of The Circus” by E. L. Norry
- “My Hair” by Hannah Lee, illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan
- “Planet Omar Accidental Trouble Magnet” by Zanib Mian, illustrated by Nasaya Mafaridik
- “The Mysterious Melody” by SP K-Mushambi, illustrated by Kudzai Gumbo
- “The Star Outside My Window” by Onjali Q. Rauf
- “Tin Boy” by Steve Cole, illustrated by Oriol Vidal
- “Toad Attack” by Patrice Lawrence, illustrated by Becka Moor
Young Adult
- “All The Things We Never Said” by Yasmin Rahman
- “Becoming Dinah” by Kit De Waal
- “Chinglish: An Almost Entirely True Story” by Sue Cheung
- “Oh My Gods” by Alexandra Sheppard
- “The Black Flamingo” by Dean Atta
- “The Boxer” by Nikesh Shukla
- “The Deathless Girls” by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
- “The Tunnels Below” by Nadine Wild-Palmer
Adult
- “A Book Of Secrets” by Kate Morrison
- “Do You Dream Of Terra-Two?” by Temi Oh
- “Everything You Ever Wanted” by Luiza Sauma
- “Golden Child” by Claire Adam
- “Living The Dream” by Isabelle Dupuy
- “Queenie” by Candice Carty-Williams
- “The Confessions Of Frannie Langton” by Sara Collins
- “This Green And Pleasant Land” by Ayisha Malik
Have you read any of these? Which do you think should pick up an award?
Why not let the judges know on Twitter using #TheDBAwards!
Read some book reviews from the “Friend” team by clicking here.
Click here for more fantastic Fiction content.
Iain McDonald I am the Digital Content Editor at the “Friend”, making me responsible for managing the flow of interesting and entertaining content on the magazine’s website and social media channels.
