A new literary prize has launched in the UK. The Sareeta Domingo Prize is a free-to-enter writing prize created to discover and support unpublished writers from Black and Global Majority backgrounds, founded by bestselling author Dorothy Koomson in association with Sareeta Domingo’s family, Hachette UK, Jacaranda Books, and David Higham Associates. It honours the legacy of Sareeta Domingo, a much-admired editor and author and passionate champion of diverse stories and underrepresented voices, who passed away in 2025.

“Sareeta touched so many lives with her writing and her work,” Koomson said. “This award has been created to continue Sareeta’s legacy in discovering and supporting new voices by breaking down the barriers to publication that those from certain backgrounds face. I am really looking forward to seeing who we can discover and support through this prize.” As an editor, Domingo began her career at Harlequin Mills & Boon before becoming editorial director at Trapeze, an imprint of Orion, in 2022, and later publishing director at Jacaranda Books from May 2025. As an author, her novels include The Nearness of You (2016), If I Don’t Have You (2020), and Possibility (2025), and she created and edited the anthology Who’s Loving You? (2022), a celebration of love written by women of colour.

The prize goes beyond a traditional competition model, combining open submissions with workshops, industry insight, and expert judging, alongside a package of support that includes coaching, editorial guidance, and the possibility of literary representation. Entrants must be unagented, unpublished, aged 18 or over, UK residents, and from a Black or Global Majority background. Submissions require the first 5,000 words of a novel in progress and a full synopsis of up to 750 words, including the ending. Submissions close September 21, 2026, with the longlist announced November 16, the shortlist January 11, 2027, and the winner announced at a ceremony on January 25, 2027.

The winner will receive £2,500, twelve months of writing coaching from Dorothy Koomson, a place on the Goldsboro Writing Academy’s novel-writing course, and an offer of literary representation from David Higham Associates, with no obligation to accept. The winning entry will also be taken forward to Orion’s acquisitions meeting for consideration for full publication, though publication is not guaranteed. A highly commended entrant will receive £1,500 and a similar package of editorial and agent support, while shortlisted entrants receive editorial feedback and an agent consultation.

The judging panel includes Dorothy Koomson as head judge, literary agent Lizzy Kremer of David Higham Associates, Anna Valentine of The Orion Publishing Group, Valerie Brandes of Jacaranda Books, Magdalene Abraha FRSA of Jacaranda Books, and author and editor Sara Jafari of Renegade Books. Submit at the official entry form linked on thefuturebookshelf.co.uk by midnight on September 21, 2026.