moved.”
Stepping out of the world of Young Adult fiction, Manjeet has also created a picture book for younger readers – Small’s Big Dream. Again, she draws on her own childhood – Indian heritage, working class background, in a provincial midlands town. Manjeet says she always dreamed of becoming an actor, but was constantly told that “people like us don’t become actors”. She says: “Small comes from this background where she doesn’t have a lot, but she has a big dream. She has a small house, small bed, small blankets – and because of her environment, she is told that her dreams have to be small too. It’s that idea that you shouldn’t go above your station, but the book says it doesn’t matter where you come from, your dreams can be big and they can come true.”
Manjeet Man won the 2021 Diverse Book Award for young Adult fiction. Entries for the 2022 Diverse Book Awards close on 31 May – for more details visit
www.thediversebookawards.co.uk.”
THERE are three categories in the Diverse Book Awards – Children, Young Adult, and Adult Fiction. Tammye Huf won the Adult award for her debut novel A More Perfect Union, and Benjamin Zephaniah picked up the Children’s award for Windrush Child (published by Scholastic Children’s Books) Manjeet Mann won the YA award for Run Rebel (published by Penguin Random Hosue). Windrush Child tells the story of
Leonard, who arrives in Southampton with his mother to join a father who has already left Jamaica for a “better life” in England for himself and his family. Leonard’s father sails aboard the SS Windrush, in search of promised opportunities. Leonard is 11-years-old when he and his mother join him, but the transition to a new country is far from easy as he comes to terms with discrimination, racism and cultural upheaval. Poet, musician and author Benjamin Zephaniah has been writing and performing for decades – his first book of poetry was released in 1980, and his first public performance was in his local chirch at the age of 10. He was born and raised in Handsworth, Birmingham – his father was originally from Barbados and his mother came to England from Jamaica. Despite having dyslexia, he has become one of Britain’s most recognised authors and poets, with a string of books for adults, young adults and children – including picture books. In his introduction to Windrush Child, he explains how his own experience of
Spring-Summer 2021
discrimination and racism affected him growing up. He says: “This story contains strong language that some readers might find offensive. In reality, when you are on the receiving end of some of these words you are very offended, but I think I would be cheating readers if I were to gloss over some of the language that is used by racists. “As a young boy in school, I remember people saying, ‘Sticks and stone may break my bones, but names can never hurt me,’ and I didn’t believe them. Names hurt me. I was called names because of the colour of my skin, because I was dyslectic, even because of the way I spoke, and those words really hurt. Fortunately, I used words to fight back, and I became a writer.” PEN&INC.
Benjamin Zephaniah. PEN&INC. 7
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