This weeks Literary Ledger 16 to 23 January 2026

Welcome to your weekly roundup of all things books! We’re keeping it short and sweet, just five stories to keep you in the loop without overwhelming you. Think of this as your quick fix for staying connected to the book world.

I) A £50k Prize Where Readers Call the Shots

Hachette UK has teamed up with Libraro, a community-driven digital reading platform, to launch a new £50,000 reader-led fiction prize. The aim is to discover and support emerging writers who might not have had these kinds of opportunities before.

What makes this prize really interesting is that it’s reader-led, so it’s not just industry professionals calling the shots (as we’re used to seeing), but everyday readers too. Their voices play a real part in shaping the shortlist and choosing the winner, which feels like a refreshing change.

The total prize pot is a huge £50,000, and it’s split across a few different elements.

The winning author will receive a massive £30,000 cash prize, with another £20,000 set aside for marketing support to help promote the finished book. On top of that, the winner will also secure a publishing deal with Hachette UK.

And it’s not just writers who benefit, readers do too. There are two £10,000 reader prizes up for grabs: one for the reader who refers to the winning author, and another for the most actively engaged reader on the platform.

The final decision won’t just come down to votes alone either. A panel of industry judges, including Elly Griffiths, LoveReading CEO Deborah Maclaren, and book blogger Zubs J Malik, will help choose the overall winner.

Key dates: 

• Submissions open: 19 January 2026 

• Deadline: 15–16 February 2026 (depending on the source) 

• Winner announced: mid-May 2026

II) Skandar Books Find New Homes Through Literacy Trust Donation

Simon & Schuster has donated 30,000 copies of A.F. Steadman’s Skandar books to the National Literacy Trust (NLT). The books will be shared through the Trust’s 21 Literacy Hubs, which support children and families in communities where poverty and low literacy levels are most common.

It’s a perfect fit, as Skandar is a fantasy adventure series aimed at 9–12 year olds, exactly the age where a love of reading can really take off. This donation also ties in with the National Year of Reading 2026, a campaign focused on encouraging children and young people to read for pleasure and build confidence through books.

III) £1.5 Billion Pledged to Support Arts, Culture, and Libraries

More good news for the arts! The UK government has announced a £1.5 billion funding package to support arts and culture over the next five years, focusing on buildings and infrastructure. It’s a big step toward addressing the long-term underfunding that the sector has faced for years.

Within that total, £27.5 million has been earmarked for the Libraries Improvement Fund (LIF). This investment is part of a wider effort to prevent closures and tackle urgent needs across more than 1,000 arts venues, museums, libraries, and heritage buildings, helping ensure communities continue to have access to culture and learning spaces.

IV) Meet the 2025 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award Shortlist!

The ALCS Educational Writers’ Award is the UK’s only prize dedicated to creative educational writing, books that spark curiosity, encourage wide reading, and go beyond exams for 5–11-year-olds.

For the 2025 award, six fantastic books have made the shortlist, covering topics from science and the human body to art, neurodiversity, and the natural world:

• Hamza’s Wild World – Hamza Yassin, illustrated by Louise Forshaw (Macmillan Children’s Books) A vibrant guide to animals packed with surprising facts.

• How to Make a Human – Clive Gifford, illustrated by Vanja Kragulj (Weldon Owen) A playful, step-by-step look at how the human body is put together.

• How To Spaghettify Your Dog – Hiba Noor Khan, illustrated by Harry Woodgate (Bloomsbury) A physics primer that explains complex cosmic concepts with fun experiments and illustrations.

• Quantum! The Strange Science of the Smallest Stuff in the Universe – Christopher Edge, illustrated by Paul Daviz (Walker Books) A colourful journey into particle physics and the building blocks of reality.

• This Book Will Make You an Artist – Ruth Millington, illustrated by Ellen Surrey (Nosy Crow) Hands-on creative prompts and art history to inspire artistic play and exploration.

• Wonderfully Wired Brains – Louise Gooding, illustrated by Ruth Burrows (DK Children’s) Celebrates neurodiversity and shows how different brains work with care and insight.

The winner will be announced on 26 February 2026 at the Goldsmiths’ Centre in London, with the author and designer/illustrator sharing a £2,000 prize.

V) Joanna Lee Takes the Helm at Juniper

Joanna Lee has been named Editorial Director of Juniper, the new literary fiction imprint from HarperCollins and HQ. Juniper aims to publish literary fiction that pushes boundaries and connects with readers, and it plans to release a carefully curated list of titles each year following its launch in mid-2025.

Lee brings a wealth of experience to the role, having worked at Faber, Atlantic Books, and the literary agency Curtis Brown. She was also recognised as one of The Bookseller’s Rising Stars in 2025, making her the perfect person to shape Juniper’s editorial vision.