FABER LAUNCHES THE 2024 FAB PRIZE WITH NEW GUEST JUDGES, BANNERMANAND KUNRUNMI
Faber announces the opening of the 2024 FAB Prize for undiscovered writers and illustrators of colour.
FAB Prize 2023 – Our Winners, Our Guests and Everything In Between!
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.
Boakye, Fatimaharan and Thorpe revealed as guest judges for the FAB Prize 2023
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 […]
FABER ANNOUNCES THE WINNERS OF THE 2022 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 […]
FAB Prize 2022: FAQ
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 […]
FAB Prize 2022
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. […]
Celebrating Five FAB Years with Ben Williams
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.
Celebrating Five Fab Years with Narjas Zatat
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 […]
Celebrating Five FAB Years: Winners Announced
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 […]
Words We Write Festival with Hannah Lee and Leonie Annor-Owiredu
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 […]
Celebrating Five Fab Years: Akhran Girmay and All American Boys
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 […]
Thoughts, Musings and Storytelling with Annabelle Sami
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. […]
In Conversation With Shirley Marr
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 […]
Celebrating Five FAB Years: Musical Truth
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 […]
Celebrating Five FAB Years With Leah Thaxton
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 […]
Celebrating Five FAB Years with Davinia Andrew-Lynch
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 […]
Celebrating Five FAB Years with Janelle McCurdy
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 […]
In Conversation With Namina Forna
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 […]
Celebrating Five FAB Years with Rashmi Sirdeshpande
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’re Celebrating Five FAB Years!
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 […]
Thoughts, Musings and Storytelling with Namra Amir
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 […]
In Conversation with Marianne Tatepo
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 […]
In Conversation with Emmanuel Omodeinde
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.
In Conversation with Hassan Ali
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, […]
Thoughts, Musings and Storytelling with Jasmine Richards
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.
Letters to My Younger Self, by Hayley Sothinathan
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 […]
In Conversation With Ingrid Persaud
Born in Trinidad, Ingrid Persaud won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize in 2017 and the BBC Short Story Award in 2018. She read law at the LSE and was a legal academic before taking degrees in fine art at Goldsmiths, University of London and Central Saint Martins. Her writing has appeared in Granta, Prospect and Pree magazines. Ingrid lives in London and Barbados.
A Letter to My Younger Self, By Mo Hafeez
Relax, don’t take yourself too seriously, be humble – this is just the beginning.
Inspiring A New Generation of Young Writers with Casey Elisha
Casey Elisha is a London based children's author, best known for her debut title, Love Thy Fro. She is also the co-writer and Executive Producer of the musical adaptation of the book: Love Thy Fro: The Musical. Casey is passionate about diversifying the scope of children's literature, and promoting positive, accurate representation in all avenues of entertainment so children can see themselves in books, on stage, and on-screen. Over the summer, Casey organised the I Am... Short Story Competition for children and youths between 9-18. The winning entries were compiled into her new book, I Am... Short Stories.
In Conversation with Nikita Gill
We have so much work to do in publishing but it is good work, it is good trouble...We must speak our truth and stand for something.
FAB Prize 2020 Winners Announced
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 […]
Thoughts, Musings and Storytelling with Zeba Talkhani
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.
Kereen Getten on When Life Gives You Mangoes and the Power of Storytelling
I have learnt to believe in my voice, that I have a story to tell, and my stories matter.
In Conversation With: Dapo Adeola
"I can’t imagine an existence where I'm not doing this."