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Hachette has announced the longlist of 12 writers in contention for the £2,500 Mo Siewcharran Prize, which was launched in 2019 to discover unpublished fiction writers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.
The initiative, named in memory of Nielsen Book’s former director of marketing and communications, aims to nurture talent from underrepresented backgrounds writing in English, and offers the chance for writers to be published by the Little, Brown and Abacus imprints.
This year's longlist features The Enigmas of Amy Wang by Anu Pohani, Bethnal Green by Amelie Skoda, Jimmy the Food Thief by Rose Chen, Bellies by Nicola Dinan, Colour of Rain by Joylene De Whyte and Flavours of Black by Leke Apena.
It also includes He Doesn’t Live Here Anymore by Santanu Bhattacharya, Impressions by Jasmin Nahar, Ndelei by Memuna Konteh, Nowhere Girl by Hanako Footman, Savage Beasts by Rani Selvarajah and The Places We Will Go by Andres Ordorica.
Hachette UK’s THRIVE employee network judged the first round. The shortlist, winner and runner-up will be judged by executive publisher for literary Clare Smith and publisher Richard Beswick, alongside the inaugural winner of the prize Sarvat Hasin, agent Sophie Lambert and Ebyan Egal, co-chair of THRIVE. The shortlist will be announced 27th August, with the overall award ceremony in September.
The winner will receive £2,500 prize money plus the offer of a publishing deal, subject to contract, while second-placed writers will receive £1,500, alongside a book hamper. Third place receives £750 plus a hamper of books. Further details can be found on the competition website here.