BUDDING picture book illustrators and writers are invited to enter a competition from Stratford Literary Festival and the Salariya Book Company.
The organisations have opened their 2021 Children’s Picture Book Prize for submissions.
The competition, which launched in 2017 and celebrates its fifth year in 2021, is open to unpublished and unrepresented writers and illustrators, with a prize value of £1,000.
The winner will receive advice from a leading literary agent and publicity through the Stratford Literary Festival, and the winning entry could also be published by independent publishers Salariya’s imprint, Scribblers.
The final date for entries is January 31 and the winner will be announced in late February.
The competition is designed to champion writers and illustrators struggling to break through in a crowded market, and all previous winners have received a publishing contract or found agent representation.
The 2020 prize was shared by two entrants, Jo Surman and Kael Tudor. Jo’s book, Snow, will be published by Salariya in spring 2021 to coincide with the Literary Festival.
She said: “Winning the 2020 children’s book prize has been extraordinary. The validation has boosted my confidence enormously and has given me the confidence to pursue a career in illustration knowing that big names in the industry believe in me.”
Among this year’s judges are Salariya Book Company MD David Salariya, Stratford Literary Festival director Annie Asworth, author Smriti Prasadam-Halls, literary agents Jodie Hodges and Jane Churchill, and Tamsin Rosewell, bookseller at Kenilworth Books.
Annie Ashworth said: “It is very exciting to be launching our fifth year of the book prize,’ said , Stratford Upon Avon Literary Festival Director. ‘Sharing stories with children has never been more important when many children have missed out on the opportunity to access books with libraries and bookshops closed for so long during lockdown, and we are delighted to be offering authors and illustrators the chance to get their work seen and possibly published.”
Visit www.stratlitfest.co.uk/bookprize for more details.
