Self-published author is regional winner in Commonwealth Book Prize

Jamaican writer Ezekel Alan won the Caribbean category of the Commonwealth Book Prize with his self-published novel Disposable People

The other four regional winners are:

• Africa Sterile Sky, E.E. Sule (Nigeria), Pearson Education
• Asia Island of a Thousand Mirrors, Nayomi Munaweera (Sri Lanka), Perera-Hussein Publishing House
• Canada and Europe, The Death of Bees, Lisa O'Donnell (United Kingdom), William Heinemann
• Pacific, The Last Thread, Michael Sala (Australia), Affirm Press

Each regional winner recieves £1,000. The overall winner, who will be announced at the Hay Festival on 31 May, receives £10,000.

Chair of the Commonwealth Book Prize, Godfrey Smith said: 'The five regional winners are an impressive mixture of bold, ambitious, powerfully descriptive and emotionally riveting writing that will leave us with a deeper appreciation and understanding of our world.'

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