CLiPPA 2018 Shortlist Announced
The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) has announced the 2018 shortlist for the CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award). Established in 2003, the CLiPPA encourages and celebrates outstanding poetry published for children and has done a huge amount to encourage the publishing of children’s poetry.
The 2018 shortlist celebrates and highlights the diversity of voices in the UK poetry scene, says CLPE. The shortlist is evenly split between 3 previous winners and 3 debut collections, with 3 out of the 6 shortlisted books coming from independent publisher Otter-Barry Books. This year saw 32 books submitted for the prize and from 19 publishers, up considerably on 2017 when 19 books from 9 publishers were submitted.
The full shortlist is:
The Rainmaker Danced, John Agard, illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura, Hodder
Rising Stars, Ruth Awolola, Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Abigail Cook, Jay Hulme, Amina Jama, illustrated by Riya Chowdhury, Elanor Chuah and Joe Manners Otter-Barry Books
Overheard in a Tower Block, Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Kate Milner, Otter-Barry Books
Moonrise, Sarah Crossan, Bloomsbury
Where Zebras Go, Sue Hardy-Dawson, Otter-Barry
Rhythm and Poetry, Karl Nova, illustrated by Joseph Witchall, Caboodle Books
Grace Nichols, Poet, winner of the first ever CLiPPA and Chair of the CLiPPA 2018 Judges commented: ‘The judging process involved passionate discussions about which books to shortlist, leading us to come up with a variety of fresh new voices joined by established ones. This shortlist showcases a vibrant selection of poetry books that children will love to explore’.
The other judges are Kate Wakeling, poet and CLiPPA 2017 winner for Moon Juice, Imogen Lycett Green, Director of the Betjeman Prize for Young Poets, Charlotte Hacking, CLPE Learning Programme Leader and Anthony Anaxagorou, poet, poetry educator and founder of Out-Spoken Press.
The winner of the 2018 Award will be announced on 22nd June in the Olivier Theatre at the National Theatre in London.
The free Shadowing Scheme to involve schools in the Poetry Award 2018 is also launched today. This has run for 3 years, reaching more than 600 teachers and 14,000 children. To support schools to take poetry into the classroom, videos of poets performing from the shortlisted books and talking about their work and high quality teaching resources, are available free of charge to all schools. Shadowing schools are invited to apply for free tickets to attend the Award Ceremony.
