Bookouture announces shortlist for Mo Siewcharran Prize 2026
Bookouture has announced the five writers shortlisted for the Mo Siewcharran Prize 2026, after receiving a record number of submissions.
Bookouture has announced the five writers shortlisted for the Mo Siewcharran Prize 2026, which focused this year on romance and psychological thriller submissions.
Launched in 2019, the prize is named in memory of NielsenIQ BookData’s former Director of Marketing and Communications, Mo Siewcharran, and aims to nurture talent from writers from a Black, Asian, minority ethnic and/or mixed heritage background. It runs as part of Hachette UK’s The Future Bookshelf initiative and is sponsored by John Seaton, Mo Siewcharran’s husband and co-founder of the prize, as well as NielsenIQ BookData.
The shortlist has been chosen by a panel of judges, including Ellen Gleeson, Publisher at Bookouture, Hennah Sandhu, former co-chair of THRIVE (Hachette UK’s network for Black Asian and Mixed Heritage employees and allies), Leodora Darlington, author of The Exes, Silé Edwards, award-winning literary agent, and Jenn Li, book influencer @bookmarkonthewall.
Jenny Geras, Managing Director of Bookouture said,
‘Bookouture is committed to nurturing talent from under-represented backgrounds and hosting the Mo Siewcharran prize has been the perfect opportunity to share our commercial fiction expertise with undiscovered writers. We received a record number of entries for the prize this year so every writer on the shortlist should be particularly proud of their achievement. I look forward to celebrating with them at our awards ceremony later in the month and wish them all the very best of luck.’
The shortlist (in alphabetical order of first name):
- The Benefits of Marriage by Amara Ede
- The Other Woman by Claudia Amuah
- The Song Beneath the Snow by F.G. Liauw
- The Eldest Daughter by Sara Anum
- Unquiet Sleep by Shyama Kasinathan
The winner and two runners-up will be announced at the central London prize ceremony on 24th September 2026.
The winner of the prize will receive £2,500, a 1000-word piece of editorial feedback on their novel, and a follow-up online session with an editor. They will also be offered an introductory meeting with a literary agent and invited to an interactive session with the Bookouture team to learn about digital publishing. The winner’s entry will also be taken forward to Bookouture’s acquisitions meeting and considered for publication under their no advance 45% royalty model.
The second and third place runners-up will receive £1,500 and £750 prize money respectively, plus editorial feedback and a hamper of Bookouture books.
You can find out more about the Mo Siewcharran prize on The Future Bookshelf website.
