Caribbean crime thriller wins inaugural prize for only BAME writers

The Jhalak prize, set up to address UK publishing’s long lack of diversity, goes to Jacob Ross’s crime novel The Bone Readers

The inaugural Jhalak prize for black, Asian and minority ethnic writers (BAME) has been won by Jacob Ross with his “thrilling, visceral and meditative, and always cinematic” crime novel The Bone Readers.

Ross’s winning book shadows Digger, a plainclothes officer working in a rogue police force on the small Caribbean island of Camaho, who can read bones under LED lights. It is the first in a quartet, while also being the British Grenadian writer’s first foray into crime writing: Ross is the author of two short story collections and the acclaimed 2009 novel Pynter Bender.

In her review of The Bone Readers, Bernardine Evaristo praised the author: “Ross’s characters are always powerfully delineated through brilliant visual descriptions, dialogue that trips off the tongue, and keenly observed behaviour... The Bone Readers is a page-turner, but its insights and language are equally testament to a literary novel of impressive depth and acuity.”

Ross saw off a varied shortlist to take the £1,000 prize on Friday night, including Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s children’s book The Girl Of Ink And Stars, Abir Mukherjee’s thriller A Rising Man, Irenosen Okojie’s short-story collection Speak Gigantular, Guardian journalist Gary Younge’s exploration of US gun violence, Another Day In The Death of America and historian David Olusoga’s Black And British: A Forgotten History.

Co-founder of the prize and chair of judges Sunny Singh described The Bones Readers as “not only as an exemplar of the genre but for rising well above it”.

“The book engages - and with a masterly, feather light touch - with history as well as contemporary politics of the Caribbean. Complex issues of memory, identity and, individual and collective sense of self, are stunningly woven into this beautifully written novel. As the first of the Camaho Quartet, it hints at the expanse and scale of the forthcoming books... I know this is a book I shall go back to again and again,” she said.

Fellow judge, poet Musa Okwonga said it was “by turns thrilling, visceral and meditative, and always cinematic”, while author Catherine Johnson added that it “effortlessly draws together the past and the present, gender, politics and the legacy of colonialism in a top quality Caribbean set crime thriller”.

The prize, which was founded to improve the poor representation of BAME writers and funded by an anonymous donor, will run again next year. Two weeks before submissions closed, Singh revealed only 51 books had been submitted by publishers, despite it being open to all genres, forms and self-published writers. After Singh criticised the lack of submissions, particularly by larger publishing houses, as a demonstration of the lack of support for BAME writers in the UK, the prize eventually received 121 entries.

Contributor

Sian Cain

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
New British books prize for BAME authors unveils inaugural longlist
The Jhalak prize lines up 12 titles – taking in fiction, history, politics and YA fantasy – showcasing ‘the strength, range and promise’ of UK writers of colour

Danuta Kean

05, Jan, 2017 @10:59 AM

Article image
Reni Eddo-Lodge wins Jhalak prize for British writers of colour
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race praised for ‘holding up a mirror to contemporary Britain’

Alison Flood

15, Mar, 2018 @7:45 PM

Article image
David Olusoga and Gary Younge head inaugural Jhalak prize shortlist
History and reportage line up against fiction and a children’s book in contention for new award honouring UK BAME authors

Danuta Kean

06, Feb, 2017 @11:43 AM

Article image
Chair of BAME prize slams UK publishers after lack of submissions
Author Sunny Singh calls British publishing ‘pathetic’ as inaugural £1,000 Jhalak prize receives only 51 entries

Sian Cain

19, Nov, 2016 @10:31 AM

Article image
'The London book of our lifetime': Guy Gunaratne wins Jhalak prize
In Our Mad and Furious City, which was spurred by the murder of Lee Rigby and nominated for the Man Booker prize, takes the award for writers of colour

Jack Taylor

01, May, 2019 @6:45 PM

Article image
Johny Pitts wins Jhalak prize for 'beautiful' history of black Europe
Television presenter and musician wins £1,000 prize for writers of colour, with ‘exceptionally thoughtful’ debut Afropean

Sian Cain

26, May, 2020 @6:44 PM

Article image
Travis Alabanza and Danielle Jawando win 2023 Jhalak prizes for writers of colour
Judges described None of the Above, Alabanza’s memoir about being genderqueer, as ‘desperately important’, and said every teenager should read Jawando’s young adult novel When Our Worlds Collided

Sarah Shaffi

25, May, 2023 @6:45 PM

Article image
Awards for women, writers of colour, small presses – why are there so many books prizes?
There are so many literary prizes these days that they could be regarded as an industry in their own right – but they’re needed to change the status quo

Claire Armitstead

21, Feb, 2018 @12:29 PM

Article image
Sabba Khan and Maisie Chan triumph in Jhalak prizes for writers of colour
Khan wins for her ‘timeless’ debut graphic novel, The Roles We Play, while Chan takes the children’s and YA award for Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths

Sarah Shaffi

26, May, 2022 @7:00 PM

Article image
Tory MP's complaint that prize for writers of colour was unfair to whites dismissed
Philip Davies had complained to the Equality and Human Rights Commission that the Jhalak prize breached discrimination rules

Danuta Kean

28, Apr, 2017 @4:45 PM