Debbie Antwi and Aisha Stoll are the first-place winners of this year’s FAB Prize for text and illustration. The winners were announced at an award ceremony yesterday evening, which took place at The Bindery with a keynote speech from writer, illustrator and FAB Prize alumni, Ramsey Hassan. The first of its kind in the UK, […]

Faber announces the opening of the 2024 FAB Prize for undiscovered writers and illustrators of colour.

We celebrated this year's FAB Prize at an award ceremony yesterday evening, the first to be held in-person since 2019. Afua Bediako and Megan Du were announced as this year’s first place winners for text and illustration.

Faber celebrated the opening of the 2023 FAB Prize for undiscovered writers and illustrators with a Faber Members FAB Prize alumni event last night featuring past winners and now published authors, Janelle McCurdy, Ravena Guron and Sarah Christou. The first of its kind in the UK, and now in its seventh year, the FAB Prize […]

Lui Sit and Suhayla Ibrahim are the first place winners of this year’s Faber and Andlyn (FAB) Prize for new writers and illustrators from underrepresented backgrounds. The first of its kind in the UK, and now in its sixth year, the FAB Prize aims to discover and showcase new talent, closing the gap between what […]

Words We Write is a festival dedicated to celebrating the works of Black British writers. Co-founders Leonie Annor-Owiredu and Hannah Lee wanted to create more access into the world of writing and share the experiences of award-winning and acclaimed writers with as many people as possible. Over the course of the next week, the best […]

Akhran Girmay is a UK-based illustrator who is enthralled by storytelling from ancient mythologies and enjoys the act of world-building. Often his stylistic objective is to produce textured and coarse illustrations through the use of traditional media and with a focus on dynamic and bold characterisations. Last year, Akhran was our second-place illustration winner for […]

Annabelle Sami is a writer, director and performer. She completed her MA in English Literature from Queen Mary University in 2018. It was whilst reading children’s books when babysitting that she realised there was a lack of representation of funny girls and diverse characters in children’s books – and she decided to do something about it. […]

Shirley Marr is a first-generation Chinese-Australian living in sunny Perth and an author of young adult and children’s fiction. Her titles are A Glasshouse of Stars, Little Jiang, Preloved and Fury. Shirley describes herself as having a Western Mind and an Eastern Heart and writes in the middle where both collide. Her passion is to distil her cultural heritage in dark […]

Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs. The title alone gave me reason to pause and take in the moment. I was holding history in my hands. I was holding my history in my hands. What’s more, it had been written in a language that I could understand, music. Music […]

Janelle McCurdy is an author and fully-fledged gamer. Having started writing and querying at only sixteen years old, she joined JULA (Jo Unwin Literary Agency) in her early twenties. After graduating from Royal Holloway University with a Criminology and Sociology degree, Janelle moved back home to London, and began writing middle-grade fantasy, including her FAB Prize winning […]

Namina Forna is a young adult novelist based in Los Angeles, and the author of the New York Times bestselling epic fantasy novel, The Gilded Ones. Originally from Sierra Leone, West Africa, she moved to the US when she was nine and has been travelling back and forth ever since. Namina loves telling stories with fierce female […]

Rashmi Sirdeshpande is a lawyer turned children’s author who writes a mix of fiction picture books and uplifting illustrated non-fiction. Her latest books are Never Teach a Stegosaurus To Do Sums, illustrated by Diane Ewen, and How To Change The World, illustrated by Annabel Tempest. When did you first start writing and when did you […]

We are so excited to announce the opening of the FAB Prize for undiscovered writers and illustrators from underrepresented backgrounds. The first of its kind in the UK, and now in its fifth year, the FAB Prize aims to discover and showcase new talent, closing the gap between what is currently published and the reality […]

Namra Amir previously interned at Faber & Faber through Creative Access. She currently works as the Marketing Assistant at Bloomsbury Children’s and recently won a BMS award for her YA campaign Cinderella Is Dead. She’s committed to promoting diversity in the publishing industry and championing BAME books. I’m from Ireland where there was little to no […]

Marianne Tatepo is the founder of the Black Agents & Editors’ Group (BAE) and a Commissioning Editor for Ebury Press & Pop Press (Penguin Random House UK), publishing non-fiction books, with a focus on lifestyle and illustrated. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, Marianne. I’ll get right into it. How did […]

Emmanuel Omodeinde an Editorial Assistant at John Murray Press, mostly working on serious and smart-thinking non-fiction books on the John Murray and Basic Books imprints. He previously interned at Peepal Tree Press, an independent publishing house and the world's leading publisher of Caribbean and Black British Literature and the renowned 4th Estate and William Collins imprints at HarperCollins. Emmanuel is very passionate about great stories of any kind but particularly about African and Afro-diasporic literature of all genres which push the boundaries of form and style and tell bold stories in fiction and non-fiction.

Hassan Ali is an Account Executive at Faber Factory, with previous experience in sales and editorial. He manages the eBook conversion process for a wide range of independent publishers, and is keen to see them thrive and flourish.  When did you realise you wanted to work in publishing? What led to this? Not very originally, […]

Jasmine is an author, former children’s publisher, screenwriter and founder of Storymix an inclusive fiction studio with a social purpose. Storymix creates children’s stories with diverse casts of characters in an organic, joyful and authentic way. The studio also works with emerging and established writers and illustrators from BME backgrounds to offer pathways into publishing.

Hayley Sothinathan manages the Faber Members programme which is free to join. Previously she worked for the Labour Party, Tate and the prison arts charity Koestler Arts.  In this letter, Hayley writes to herself on her first day at Faber. Dear younger Hayley, You will be nervous because it is your first day back to […]

Relax, don’t take yourself too seriously, be humble – this is just the beginning.

Mariesa Dulak and Ngadi Smart are this year’s first place winners of the Faber and Andlyn (FAB) Prize for new writers and illustrators from underrepresented backgrounds. Mariesa Dulak won the writing prize with her picture book, There’s a Tiger on the Train!, described by the judges as ‘polished, funny, visual, current and clever. There is […]

If I could go back in time and give my younger self some advice, it would be to occupy the spaces you have earned without doubting yourself.

I have learnt to believe in my voice, that I have a story to tell, and my stories matter.

"I can’t imagine an existence where I'm not doing this."