About us
What is the Jericho Prize?
The Jericho Prize for Children's Writing is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) that supports emerging, unpublished and self-published Black-British children's writers. We are a home for these writers, offering a launchpad for their careers as children's book authors.
Founded in 2021 by former teacher and educational book editor Fabia Turner, we are passionate about making UK children’s publishing accessible to Black writers both in terms of knowledge and opportunities. Although we have been running for three years, we became a CIC in 2023 to formalise our commitment to this cause.
Our mission
To break down barriers in traditional children's publishing and showcase Black-British writing talent.
What we do
We offer a biennial writing competition for emerging Black-British children's writers aged 18 plus and a writer development programme.
All of our opportunities and resources are free of charge to writers. Our current focus is on picture book fiction, including rhyming books, but we may extend into children’s poetry and non-fiction or books for other age groups later.
Funding
As a not-for-profit initiative, we are currently supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and a grant from the charity Inclusive Books for Children.
Other supporters have included Penguin Random House, Knights Of, Scholastic UK and the Youth Libraries Group.
"Breaking down barriers; building up Black-British talent"
Meet the team
Social Media Content Creator and Comms Assistant
Yasmin Tijani is a digital marketer, content creator and artist. Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics & Management Studies from the University of Leicester in 2020, she embarked on a marketing career fuelled by a passion for crafting compelling content. With a diverse background spanning digital and product marketing, Yasmin has worked across various industries, including her recent tenure in the music industry at BMG. Additionally, as an oil painter and commissioned artist, Yasmin's work delves into themes of Black self-love, body image, and commentary on art through the ages. Her abstract style and conceptual pieces have been showcased at esteemed exhibitions and featured on ITV.
Founder and director
Fabia Turner is the founder of the Jericho Prize. She is also a former Ealing borough primary school teacher and Scholastic Education book editor with a lifelong passion for children's literature. With 12 years' combined experience in education and publishing, she has advocated for the use of multicultural/multi-ethnic resources in UK schools while working in both sectors. Concerned about the lack of Black critics on the UK arts scene, she also became a member of the Critics of Colour Collective in 2018, writing theatre reviews for their online platform. In 2018, she created Candid Cocoa, an arts blog now focused on getting more Black children's books into primary schools. She recently too up a new position as Head of Content at charity Inclusive Books for Children.
Marketing lead
Matthew Turner is a writer, script editor and marketing consultant. After completing a PhD in English Literature, Matthew taught at the University of Sussex while continuing his research into modern literature and popular culture. Over the past 20 years, he has worked in marketing, managing content projects and promotional campaigns. His most recent full-time role was as Head of Content for a FTSE 250 company, and he now works as a freelance consultant. As a playwright, Matthew’s work has been produced at the Arcola Theatre, Theatre503, the Brighton Fringe and elsewhere. His last two plays, Closed and Dead Yard, both reached the final 40 of the Bruntwood Prize. Dead Yard, which focuses on the generational struggles of a contemporary British-Jamaican family, was also selected for the Arcola PlayWROUGHT festival in 2017.