2012 Branford Boase Shortlist

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Seven authors are on the shortlist for the 2012 Branford Boase Award, announced today, Monday 30 April.

The Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children. Uniquely, it also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.

This year no less than 61 books were submitted, three times more than were submitted for the first Branford Boase Award in 1999. Judge and founder of the award, Julia Eccleshare, praised the shortlist for its quality and variety.

The shortlist is:

Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough, edited by Annie
Eaton (Bodley Head)

Being Billy by Phil Earle, edited by Shannon Park
(Puffin)

Small Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans, edited by Annie
Eaton and Ruth Knowles (Bodley Head)

Everybody Jam by Ali Lewis, edited by Charlie Sheppard
(Andersen Press)

Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis, edited by Liz Cross (OUP)

A Beautiful Lie by Irfan Master, edited by Emma Matthewson (Bloomsbury)

My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher, edited by Fiona Kennedy (Orion)

Three authors on the shortlist, Lissa Evans, Ali Lewis and Annabel Pitcher, are all in contention for the 2012 Carnegie Medal, the UK’s most prestigious children’s book award.

Previous shortlisted and winning writers include Marcus Sedgwick, Meg Rosoff, Philip Reeve, Cathy Cassidy, Kevin Brooks, William Nicholson, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Mal Peet and Bali Rai.

This year’s judges are independent bookseller Kate Agnew, of The Children’s Bookshop Muswell Hill; Carol Webb, 2011 School Librarian of the Year; Fiona Lafferty, editorial director of the Good Book Guide and Jason Wallace, author of Out of Shadows, winner of last year’s Branford Boase Award. The panel is chaired by Julia Eccleshare, children’s books
editor of The Guardian.

The Branford Boase Award was set up in memory of author Henrietta Branford and Wendy Boase, editorial director and one of the founders of Walker Books. They worked together on a number of Henrietta’s novels, a partnership they greatly enjoyed. Both Henrietta and Wendy died of cancer in 1999.

The winner of the Award will be announced on Thursday July 5^th at a ceremony in London.

Running alongside the Branford Boase Award, the Henrietta Branford Writing Competition encourages young writing talent. Young writers under the age of 19 are invited to enter by finishing a story started by last year’s winner, Jason Wallace. Winners are invited to the Branford Boase Award ceremony to meet the winner and supporter Dame Jacqueline Wilson.

There’s still just time to enter: the closing date is Friday 4^th May.

More information can be found at www.branfordboaseaward.org.uk