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WINNER: Reni Eddo-Lodge

Reni Eddo-Lodge has won the Jhalak Prize for her debut book Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, it was announced yesterday.

Eddo-Lodge’s idea for the book stemmed from a blogpost of the same name published in 2014.

Sunny Singh, the prize’s co-founder and judging panel chair said: “The final decision was very difficult and we went back and forth right to the end. The entire shortlist is so extraordinary that any and all of them are deserving winners. But Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race stood as an essential for Britain today.”

The Jhalak Prize was established in 2016 and seeks out the best books by British and British resident BAME writers.

Books of all genres are eligible to win the award and winners are presented with a trophy and £1,000. Self-published writers are also permitted to enter.

The prize was created by authors Sunny Singh and Nikesh Shukla, and online magazine Media Diversified.

Reni Eddo-Lodge's book has been awarded the Jhalak Prize

Media Diversified announced the winner on their website, describing the book as an “incisive nonfiction debut”.

Singh said the book is a “must read for every Briton” and called it “timely and essential, thought-provoking, complex and yet completely accessible”.

Eddo-Lodge recently interviewed Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at the Women of the World (WOW) festival at London’s Southbank.

The author wrote on Twitter: “What an honour it was to be in conversation with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, one of the best fiction authors writing today. I think everyone in the room learnt from her wit, warmth and wisdom. Thanks to all who made it to our talk at @WOWtweetUK on Saturday evening!”

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