Winners of the Jericho Prize 2025 writing competition announced!
Sebrina O’Connor takes picture book award while Ronke Owoeye wins new baby and toddler category
The Jericho Prize is proud to announce the winners of its 2025 awards, honouring new Black-British writers of children’s picture books.
This year’s online awards ceremony, hosted by journalist and broadcaster Sinai Fleary last Thursday, recognised Sebrina O’Connor as the winner of Best Picture Book Script (ages 3–7) and Ronke Owoeye as the winner of Best Baby and Toddler Script (ages 1–3). Both writers will receive, among other prizes, £1250 cash from partners Hachette Children’s Group and a 12-month membership to the Society of Authors.
Now in its fifth year, the Jericho Prize, a not-for-profit organisation, continues to spotlight and support emerging Black voices who otherwise might struggle to access the highly competitive UK children’s publishing industry.
Sebrina O’Connor’s tender, winning story, Dou Dou’s Brave, captures the loving relationship between a Grenadian grandmother and her granddaughter, and the hope to be found after Nanny falls ill.
Sebrina, who was a runner-up in the 2022/23 competition, said on hearing she had won: ‘It was magical at the Jericho Prize awards ceremony, hearing Dou Dou’s Brave come to life with the reading and illustrations, and then hearing I’ve won the 2025 picture book award! Having previously been a finalist and recognised as a “Writer with Potential” in the 22/23 Jericho Prize, I want to say a huge thank you (even though that does not feel enough)to all at Jericho Prize: the judges, patron, finalists, my family and all who have read Dou Dou’s Brave, for highlighting Black-British stories and recognising not just this story, but the importance of diverse voices in children’s literature.’
Ronke Owoeye’s joyful toddler script, This One? That One!, is a humorous, playful story centring on an independent baby boy enjoying everyday adventures and making choices with real-life objects and foods.
Ronke was overjoyed at winning the prize: ‘I’m so thrilled and grateful to have won the Baby and Toddler category of the 2025 Jericho Prize. This story is deeply personal to me, and it means so much to see it recognised. Big thanks to Ken Wilson-Max for the beautiful portrait, and to Fabia and the Jericho Prize team for all their hard work on the incredible showcase that brought the stories to life. I can’t wait to bring this story to young readers everywhere.’
Fabia Turner, founder and director of the Jericho Prize, celebrated the writers’ achievement. ‘Sebrina and Ronke are both incredibly talented writers whose work reminds us why the Jericho Prize must continue to exist. I’m so incredibly proud of them and all eight of this year’s finalists for sharing their beautiful stories with the world, which takes a lot of courage when you are new to this industry. I hope this is the start of great things for them all. I’m excited to see what happens next.’
Amy Anderson, editorial director of picture books at Hachette Children’s Group, added: ‘The Jericho Prize does such wonderful work in championing and developing emerging Black-British writers, and Fabia’s commitment to the award makes it a true highlight of the children’s publishing calendar. Congratulations to Sebrina and Ronke, who are both incredibly talented and wonderful winners – their texts, and all the finalists’, are so strong and filled with warmth and heart. They were a complete joy to read.’
Sarah Satha, co-founder of the literacy charity Inclusive Books for Children, who provided grantfunding for this year’s Jericho Prize, said: ‘Every year, the Jericho Prize shines a light on a new pool of talented and driven Black-British aspiring children’s authors. In this way, they provide the crucial missing link between publishers, who know they have a diversity problem and want to do better, and new writers keen to break into the industry. Huge congratulations to this year’s shortlisted authors, and especially to the winners, on their brilliant scripts. We are eager to see their work on bookshelves everywhere in coming years.’
To watch the 2025 Jericho Prize awards ceremony on YouTube, visit https://youtu.be/UkbMdsC4KYw. For more information about the organisation, visit www.jerichoprize.com or follow @JerichoPrize on social media.
