BRITAIN'S BIGGEST CRIME PRIZE SEARCHES FOR THE NEXT BESTSELLING WRITER OF COLOUR. DEADLINE 31 OCTOBER

The Joffe Books Prize is looking for a talented new crime fiction writer of colour, with one of the UK's largest literary prizes for the winner.

The judging panel includes award-winning author of My Sister, the Serial Killer, Oyinkan Braithwaite, and literary agent Ella Diamond Kahn. 

The prize invites submissions from unagented authors from Black, Asian, Indigenous and minority ethnic backgrounds writing in crime fiction genres including electrifying psychological thrillers, cosy mysteries, gritty police procedurals, twisty chillers, unputdownable suspense mysteries and shocking domestic noirs. 

Audible has committed to supporting the Joffe Books Prize, with a £25,000 audiobook deal for the winner of the prize for the next three years, making it one of the most significant prizes for crime fiction in the UK.

The winner gets a two-book publishing deal with Joffe Books, a £1,000 cash prize, and a £25,000 audiobook offer from Audible for the first book.

The submission period has been extended to midnight on 31 October 2022.

Full details can be found at Grundy Haigh, Editorial Director at Joffe Books, says: “I am absolutely thrilled by Audible’s commitment to not just our prize, but to amplifying underrepresented voices in a very real way. Their involvement is utterly gamechanging — it promises to make this one of the most significant crime fiction prizes in the UK. Audible’s enthusiasm and advocacy has been evident right from the start. It’s been a pleasure to work with them so far, and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve.”

Aurelie de Troyer, Senior Vice President, International English Content says: “Audible is delighted to be able to offer the winner of the Joffe Books Prize this additional opportunity. We are passionate believers in the power of storytelling and want those stories to come from the widest possible range of people. We hope that our support will help set the winner on the path to a sustainable long-term writing career and look forward to giving them a well-deserved platform in audio.”

OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER, says: “It is great that Joffe Prize is dedicating resources to fulfil its commitment to diversify crime fiction. I am thrilled to be a part of the movement to help authors from minority groups achieve their dreams.”

ELLA DIAMOND KAHN, CO-FOUNDER OF THE DIAMOND KAHN & WOODS LITERARY AGENCY, says: “It’s really important to highlight and celebrate diverse voices in all genres of books in order to truly create a more inclusive publishing industry. The Joffe Books Prize is already proving to be a fantastic way of doing exactly that by discovering thrilling new crime writers. I’m so thrilled to have been invited to be one of the judges.”