The Decibel Penguin prize, an Arts Council initiative awarded to writers of "Asian, African and Caribbean background," has been forced to change its entry criteria after an intervention by the Commission for Racial Equality.

Zadie Smith, with three novels under her belt, is positively the grand old lady of this year's Decibel award shortlist. On Beauty, her Booker-shortlisted homage to EM Forster, is up against two first-time novelists and Nadeem Aslam, who is in the running for the prize with his second novel, Maps for Lost Lovers.