A SELF-published author has credited her Caribbean roots as the inspiration behind her new book which has won a top publishing prize.

Antoinette Brooks has won this year’s Jericho Prize, a free competition for unpublished and self-published Black British writers, which aimed to find manuscripts with an authentically drawn black lead character.

As part of her award, she will receive a publishing contract with an author advance of £1500 plus mentoring from Scholastic UK.

Ms Brooks paid tribute to her Caribbean heritage, which she said helped to inspire her book Friday Night Cake – which won the award for Best Picture Book manuscript for children 3 years and over.

She said: “I am overwhelmed and thrilled to have won with Friday Night Cake.

“Baking with my mum was always such a special time, something I loved so much. It became our tradition and gave me a connection to my Caribbean heritage.

“Baking was such a natural time to share stories of our history.”

The author and illustrator will also be awarded a 12-month’s membership to the Society of Authors (SoA) and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

Ms Brooks – who has already self-published three picture books – thanked the judges, her family and friends, family, and her tutors for their support of her writing journey.

“I’m so excited to start this wonderful opportunity with Scholastic too,” she added.

Opportunity for Black writers

The UK-wide contest was originally launched in 2021 and founded by former teacher and educational book editor, Fabia Turner.

The competition aims to find and showcase new British writers of African or Caribbean descent.

Speaking on this year’s winner, Ms Turner said: “We are extremely proud of all the finalists and are ecstatic for our talented winner Antoinette.

“I know that, aside from her book deal, she will be well supported and nurtured by the Scholastic UK Illustrated Books team, producing incredible work.

“Author mentoring was an important aspect of Scholastic UK’s commitment to us, and we’re so excited to see their author-publisher partnership blossom.”

Ms Turner also said the memberships with SoA and SCBWI will allow Ms Brooks to “access vital information to make fully informed choices as she kickstarts her professional career – something all new writers need to navigate this highly competitive and, at times, opaque industry.”

According to the prize founder, this year saw a “significant rise in entries” from Black writers who want to write books for younger audiences.

She added: “I feel the Jericho Prize is playing a huge role in showing the Black community that writing for this age group, in particular picture books, is a serious craft and career path that can be for them. Now into our third year, writers realise that we are a bona fide, non-profit outfit entirely focused on championing and supporting them to reach their goals, whatever they might be.”

The winner was announced during an online awards ceremony this week, attended by
children’s book industry representatives and the general public.

Fiz Osborne, Publisher Picture Books Scholastic UK said: “We’re delighted to have supported the Jericho Prize this year. It’s a fantastic door opener to the world of publishing and we really with an aim of showcasing talented writers of African and Caribbean descent.”

Mentoring

First runners-up were Paula Sampson-Lawrence and Siobhan Graham, who will be mentored
by leading publishing professionals.

The other two finalists Sebrina O’Connor and Krystal S Lowe will each receive detailed script feedback
plus a one-to-one with children’s author and editor Naomi Jones.

The judges for this year’s prize were, Caroline Carpenter, Children’s Editor and Deputy Features Editor at The Bookseller; Stella Hine, librarian and former Yoto Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Judge and Simone Taylor, Assistant Editor Illustrated Books at Scholastic UK, assessed stories written by five finalists,
during an online meeting held earlier this month. The final phases of judging were carried

The final phases of judging were carried out anonymously to ensure there was no bias.

Words Rated conducted the study which analysed 1,511 books from the New York Times bestseller lists for children’s books that were published between 2012 and 2021.

The results found there are still 3.5 children’s bestsellers by a white author for every children’s bestseller written by a black author.

The Voice, has previously reported on the growing demand for black books in public libraries nationwide.