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.

We’ve had so much interest in this year’s prize that we couldn’t help extending the deadline by a few more weeks! Some questions have come up a few times in our inbox so we wanted to clarify parts of the criteria and give you some tips and tricks for your application! I am a self-published […]

Faber and Andlyn announce the opening of the FAB Prize for undiscovered writers and illustratorsfrom 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 is currently published and the reality for many families. […]

An amateur geek and professional daydreamer, Ben Williams discovered that writing middle-grade fiction came easily to someone who never quite grew up. He studied English Literature at Queen Mary University and has since gone on to work in publishing and the arts sector. His work has been shortlisted for the 2021 WriteMentor Novel-in-Development Award and the PRH WriteNow 2021 editorial programme, and he hopes one day that young readers will be able to enjoy his daft adventures.

Narjas Zatat was born in Hungary to an Algerian dad and a Greek mum. When she moved to London at the age of eight, the question ‘Where are you from?’ became a bit of an existential crisis. As a child, she tried to understand her identity by writing stories. As an adult and journalist, she […]

Narjas Zatat and Shirley Hottier are this year’s first place winners of the Faber and Andlyn (FAB) Prize for new writers and illustrators from underrepresented backgrounds. The first of its kind in the UK, the FAB Prize aims to discover and showcase new talent, closing the gap between what is currently published and the reality […]

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 […]

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 […]

Leah Thaxton is the Children’s Publisher at Faber, in charge of a list that reaches from picture books to Young Adult titles. She is also a published author under the pen name Katie Blackburn, including the bestselling Where the Wild Mums Are and Dozy Bear and the Secret of Sleep. As we head into the fifth year of the […]

Davinia Andrew-Lynch is a literary agent and the founder of the boutique literary agency Andlyn. She’s always on the lookout for big, bold and heartfelt narratives across all genres but ultimately, she aims to encourage, nurture and champion authors to tell the authentic stories they want to tell. What does it mean to be an agent? How would you […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]