At a ceremony hosted at Hachette's Carmelite House, the winners of the tenth Jhalak Prize have been announced. Each writer was awarded £1,000 and a specially commissioned, unique trophy created by artists Munir Wakid (for Jhalak Prose Prize), Malak Mattar (for Jhalak Poetry Prize) and Hoang Giang (Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize).

This year winning titles this year showcase the strong representation of regional independent presses amongst this year's contenders with writers from Seren, a wales based publisher, and Floris Books, based in Scotland, taking home top prizes. 

Jhalak Prose Prize 

Diana Evans takes home the 2026 Jhalak Prose Prize for I Want to Talk to You: And Other Conversations. This is a powerfully crafted and genre-defying work of prose. The judges had this to say:

Catherine Johnson was a founding judge for the Jhalak Prize and returns for the 10th Anniversary year: Diana Evans' I Want To Talk To You, is a wonderful collection of prose, the work of a confident author who can lead the reader into a myriad of conversations, about creativity, motherhood, and grief and music. Evans' writing shines and the book is a worthy Jhalak winner. 

Ami Rao is author of Boundary Road, a slick slice of contemporary fiction our editorial expert Joanne Owen called "a blast of storytelling brilliance" says: I Want to Talk to You was a unanimous choice for us on the judging panel. Diana Evans has written a beautifully crafted, emotionally intelligent collection that explores the complexities of contemporary life with empathy, precision and extraordinary skill. This is a book that speaks powerfully to the world we live in and the people we are trying to become. 

Jacob Ross was the winner of the inaugural Jhalak Prize with Bone Readers: Judging this year's Jhalak Prize was an opportunity to enter the wonderful - oftentimes awe-inspiring - imaginative worlds of some of the finest most thought-provoking writers in contemporary British letters. Diana Evans’ I Want to Talk to You: And Other Conversations encapsulates the nuances, complexity and beauty of these offerings in a single book. 

Jhalak Poetry Prize 

Visual artist Maggie Harris was announced as the winner of the Jhalak Poetry Prize for I Sing to the Greenhearts, the Guyanese poet, writer and memoirist's stunningly beautiful, incisive collection. Discussing the win the judges had the following comments to share:

Poet, essayist and editor Romalyn Ante: I Sing to the Green Hearts is a beautiful and discerning collection that explores how the colonial meets natural history. Here, forests, trees, and flowers become powerful symbols of personal and political survival and reclamation. 

Author and ambassador for National Poetry Day, Nikita Gill: Maggie Harris uses her powerful skills of reflection, craft and cadence to give us one of the most incisive, magical poetry collections of the decade. A treasure trove of beautiful language told through stunning landscapes and experience.” 

Literary activist, short story writer and poet, Kadija (George) Sesay: This is a book written with love. Maggie Harris effectively uses her native Guyana’s greenheart tree as a ploy to take us on a journey to explore facets of home, moving seamlessly between Patois and English. I Sing to the Greenhearts captures so many emotions as she weaves stories of colonial past and Black British present.From politics to domestics, it is easy to discover something new, each time it is read. She has crafted a marvelous piece of work. 

Prize Director, Sunny Singh, said: ‘The judges have, once again, selected towering works of literature for winners of the three Jhalak Prize awards. Their choices exemplify the courageous and defiant works that have become a hallmark of the Prize over the past decade. The judges task was incredibly difficult given the extraordinary shortlists they had selected. I am in awe of their selections for winners of the Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult, Poetry and Prose prizes. These are books that are urgent and necessary now and shall endure far into the future.

2026 Jhalak Prize Winners

Jhalak Prose Prize

I Want to Talk to You: And Other Conversations by Diana Evans,

Jhalak Poetry Prize

I Sing to the Greenhearts by Maggie Harris

Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize

My Name is Samim by Fidan Meikle

If you are interested in the Jhalak Prize for Children and Young People, visit the feature on our sister site LoveReading4Kids.

About the Jhalak Prize

The Jhalak Prize was established in 2016 and is administered by UK registered charity the Jhalak Foundation as part of their focus on literary and artistic initiatives that celebrate and support diversity, inclusion and equity. The Jhalak Prize uniquely celebrates exceptional work across genre and format. Fiction, non-fiction, short stories, graphic novels, poetry and self-published writers are all eligible for the prizes.

To read more about the 2025 winners, visit the LoveReading feature here. Dive into the full 2026 longlist here and explore the 2026 shortlist here.

www.jhalakprize.com

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