Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi has won this year’s Jhalak prize for writers of colour with her novel The First Woman, with Patrice Lawrence winning the award’s inaugural children’s and young adult category for her “unapologetic celebration of teen culture”, Eight Pieces of Silva. Set up five years ago, the Jhalak is an annual award for a British or British-resident writer of colour, with previous winners including Reni Eddo-Lodge and Johny Pitts. The First Woman, Makumbi’s book of the year winner, follows Kirabo as she comes of age in Uganda in the 1970s and 80s. Children’s category judge and author Kiran Millwood Hargrave described Eight Pieces of Silva as “a mystery, a drama and a comedy. “Most of all, they both find strength, compassion and resilience in places and times where these seem entirely impossible.”

Source: The Guardian May 25, 2021 17:00 UTC