Nigerian-founded publishing house, Cassava Republic Press, has announced its first-ever shortlisting for the prestigious Women’s Prize for Fiction, marking a historic moment for the company and African independent publishing.
The recognition comes with The Mercy Step, a debut novel by British-Jamaican author Marcia Hutchinson, which has been named on the 2026 shortlist for the globally acclaimed literary prize.
The milestone represents the first time an African and Black women-owned independent publisher has made the shortlist in the prize’s three-decade history, highlighting a breakthrough for diverse voices in global publishing.
Reacting to the development, Founder and Publishing Director of Cassava Republic Press, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, described the achievement as both symbolic and deeply significant.
“We are honoured, and we are proud. This is what independent, Black-owned publishing is for — not as a corrective to the mainstream, but as a home. A place where a writer can debut at sixty. Where a story rooted in Black British life can be treated with the full literary ambition it deserves,” she said.
Reflecting on the publisher’s journey since its founding in Abuja in 2006, she added: “We started in Abuja twenty years ago with passion and an unshakeable belief that African storytelling belonged to the world. Today, the world agrees.”
The Mercy Step tells the story of Mercy, the youngest child in a Windrush-generation Jamaican family living in 1960s Bradford, navigating a complex home shaped by hardship, faith, and sibling bonds. The novel, praised for its emotional depth and narrative voice, had previously been rejected by over 50 publishers before being picked up by Cassava Republic.
Hutchinson, a lawyer and community activist, published her first novel at the age of 60, adding to the significance of the book’s journey to international recognition.
Cassava Republic noted that the shortlisting affirms its long-standing commitment to amplifying African and diaspora voices, stressing that such stories deserve a central place in global literary discourse.
The winner of the £30,000 Women’s Prize for Fiction will be announced on June 11, 2026, in London, while the paperback edition of The Mercy Step is set for release on April 30, 2026.
