Shamiso

LONGLISTED FOR THE JHALAK PRIZE 2026

'Witty, inventive and sensual' ABDULRAZAK GURNAH, Nobel Prize Laureate
'A prodigiously talented and uncompromising writer' ALI SMITH
'Original' Guardian
'Dazzling' ANDREW McMILLAN
'A jewel of a novel' MENDEZ

When she takes a leap to leave Zimbabwe behind for Brighton, England, young Shamiso must find a new family and a new way of living. It is there she falls for George, sometimes Georgie, whose gender fluidity mirrors Shamiso's own shapeshifting heart as a woman caught between her desire to belong and profound yearning to find herself.

Quirky, challenging and mischievous, this tender coming-of-age story brilliantly examines selfhood, love and the many shapes family can take. From first moments to final steps, Shamiso is a shimmering, blazing work of modern existence and all its contradictions.