Career
Jawando began her career teaching English and Creative Writing at a further education college (FEC) [6] and started her writing career upon publishing the short story "Paradise 703" for DeadInk. [7] In 2015, [8] [9] Jawando worked as a storyline writer for the ITV soap opera Coronation Street . [10] [11] She became an Associate Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Roehampton, as well as a Writer-in-Residence at New Writing North . [12] [13]
Her short story "The Deerstalker" was a finalist in the 2017 We Need Diverse Books competition. [8] In 2019, she wrote a non-fiction installment of Laurence King Publishing's Little Guides to Great Lives series on Maya Angelou. [14] Jawando signed a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster, through which she published her debut fiction novel And the Stars Were Burning Brightly in 2020. Set in Wythenshawe, the novel follows 15-year-old Nathan who grapples with his older brother Al's suicide. [15] [16] And the Stars Were Burning Brightly won Best Senior Novel at the Great Reads Award and was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, [17] the YA Book Prize, [18] the Jhalak Prize, [19] and the Branford Boase Award. [20] It was also longlisted for the Carnegie Medal. [21]
Jawando's second novel When Our Worlds Collided was published in 2022. [22] When Our Worlds Collided won the Jhalak Prize, [23] the YA Book Prize, [24] and the Diverse Book Award. [25] It was also shortlisted for the Books Are My Bag Readers’ Choice Award and longlisted for the Carnegie Medal. The novel was described by the Bookseller as a ‘raw, powerful and thought-provoking coming of age story.’ [26] It was also recognised by activist and author Laura Bates, as a book to change the world. [27] In 2023, she was named in Vogue as a breakthrough Black British female novelist by Booker Prize winning author, Bernadine Evaristo. [28]
Jawando then signed another two-book deal with Simon & Schuster, [29] through which she published her third novel If My Words Had Wings. The novel follows a teenager named Tyrell who discovers his voice through spoken word poetry in a young offenders' prison. It explores the disparities within the justice system, mental health and Joint Enterprise. [30] Suzi Feay of Financial Times named If My Words Had Wings one of the best summer 2024 YA novels. [31] If My Words Had Wings was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal, shortlisted for the YA Book Prize, [32] UKLA Book Awards, [33] Diverse Book Awards [34] and the Peter’s Children’s Book of the Year. [35] It was reviewed in The Guardian as “raw and compelling.” [36]
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