The Home of British Asian Writing
Avon Books UK has partnered with Silé Edwards at Mushens Entertainment to launch a competition exclusively open to un-agented, unpublished writers of colour. The winner will receive a two-book publishing contract with Avon with an advance against royalties of £10,000 (£5,000 per book), an additional £3,000 grant to support their writing, and representation from Mushens …
Just So You Know, a collection of essays by underrepresented writers from Wales, instantly transports you to a world different to your own. Edited by Hanan Issa, Durre Shahwar and Ozgur Uyanik and published by Parthian Books, the book features original essays of experience from talented new voices. A young woman weaves her experience of …
Of Necessity & Wanting is a collection of lyrical, atmospheric stories of varying lengths set in urban Pakistan. At its forefront are the concerns of people who are lower down on the metaphorical ‘chain’ of status and power, especially in the context of their symbiotic relationship with those they see as ‘other,’ ‘ privileged’ or …
Bookouture and Dahlia Books join forces on an exclusive call-out for writers from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds – open Bookouture, in association with The Asian Writer and Dahlia Books, are putting out an exclusive call-out for commercial fiction submissions from unagented and unpublished writers from BAME backgrounds and will be offering professional editorial …
Set in vibrant 1950s India, A Suitable Boy, an epic tale of life and love based on the classic novel of the same name by Vikram Seth made its screen debut on BBC One earlier this month. Produced by Lookout Point (War And Peace, Les Misérables, Gentleman Jack), A Suitable Boy is a six-part drama adapted by …
by Kia Abdullah It started with a disastrous radio slot. I was invited onto a programme along with authors Nikesh Shukla, A A Dhand and Mariam Khan to look at why British Asian authors are underrepresented in publishing. Sadly, we were asked to go over the same old ground: ‘Does diversity lower standards?’ ‘Do writers …
The cover A Summary The Cure For a Crime is about the twins, Ali and Tulip, whose Mum has got a strange new boyfriend, Brian Sturgeon the Brain Surgeon. Suddenly Mum falls ill, a fever maybe? No, it is a strange new virus and Brian Sturgeon is No.1 on the twins’ suspect list. Oh no, …
Crime writer Abir Mukherjee has been shortlisted for a major literary prize. Mukherjee’s third book, Smoke and Ashes is one of six titles in contention for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Now in it’s 16th year the most coveted prize in crime fiction, presented by Harrogate International Festivals, represents crime writing …
by Farah Damji I helped to set up The View Magazine, a publication by and for women in the criminal justice system, with three other women with conviction because nothing like it exists. The current prison publications are aimed at men and women are only mentioned as an afterthought. The View Magazine is a voice …
Debut novelist Emma Smith-Barton and Costa winner Jasbinder Bilan have been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. Emma’s novel The Million Pieces of Neena Gill has been placed in the Older Readers category, while Asha and the Spirit Bird by Jasbinder Bilan is listed in the Younger Readers category. Now in its sixteenth year, …