“It is not that we won’t be able to award a book that is deserving, but that there are obviously not enough books being published by BAME authors,” said Singh. The analysis found a “shockingly low” number of books by British BAME authors in the top 500 titles of the year to date. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Hamish Hamilton submitted bestseller Zadie Smith for the Jhalak prize – a move criticised by Singh. HarperCollins imprint 4th Estate, meanwhile, introduced a short story prize for BAME writers, in association with the Guardian. She added that the big publishers do have many more debuts from BAME authors lined up for 2017.

Source: The Guardian November 19, 2016 10:30 UTC