Sunshine and rainbows
N
OMINATIONS for the 2023 Diverse Book Awards close at the end of May, and this year’s awards
feature a new category for Picture Books.
The new award joins the existing categories for Children’s, Young Adult and Adult books. The awards are now in their fourth year, and they continue to provide a unique opportunity to celebrate representative and inclusive books published in the UK. As well as being open to books coming from traditional publishing routes, they also encourage entries from self- published authors and illustrators. The awards were founded in 2019 by award-winning author Abiola Bello and award-winning publicist Helen
Lewis, with the first winners unveiled in 2020. Winners then were Onjali Q. Rauf, for The Star Outside my Window (Children’s), Sue Cheung for Chinglish: An Almost Entirely True Story (YA), and Ayisha Malik won in the Adult category for This Green and Pleasant Land. The 2021 awards saw Benjamin
Zephaniah pick up the Children’s award for A Windrush Child, Manjeet Mann’s Run, Rebel won the YA award and Tammye Huf won the Adult category for A More Perfect Union. Last year’s winners were revealed in October and feature Natasha Bowen for Skin of the Sea, which draws inspiration from Natasha’s Nigerian heritage and Yaruba folklore from the country. It tells the tale of Simidele, a type of mermaid known as a Mami Wata, who are duty-bound to collect
and return the souls of those lost at sea to the Supreme Creator. But when a child is thrown overboard from a slave ship, Simidele saves his life – breaking a cardinal rule. In an effort to make amends, she embarks on a journey across sea and land to find the Supreme Creator. A sequel, Soul of the Deep, is out now.
The winner in the Adult category is Kia Abdullah for Next of Kin, a legal drama that sees a family torn apart. Benjamin Dean won the 2022 Children’s Award for Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow, and you can read an interview with him about his books and inspiration below. Nominations for the 2023 Diverse Book Awards close on 31 May, and you can submit entries by visiting
www.thediversebookawards.co.uk
Spring-Summer 2023
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