diverse voices award – Bookmonitor – news from around the world

The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award 2013 –

Now in its fourth year, the Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award, will announce the winner on Thursday May 23rd at Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The award, continues the Frances Lincoln’s tradition of promoting writing which celebrates cultural diversity and cultural and social tolerance. It provides a platform for new authors to present their work and celebrate aspects of their own culture through the world of children’s books.

The award is also supported by The Arts Council and encourages writers to have a voice and to reach out to all children, and especially for children who can find reflections of their own lives in the stories.

“Diversity in children’s books is crucial – in this ever-shrinking world we are all foreigners somewhere. I’m delighted to be part of an award recognising the importance of this element in young people’s fiction.”
Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty (The National Council for Civil Liberties)

This year the short list is

One of a Kind by Jude (Najoud) Ensaff

Samosa Girl by Swapna Haddow

You’re Not Proper by Tariq Mehmood

From dark secrets, from characters whose existence is shaped by issues of war,to children with multiple identities, these are all great books to be short listed.

Dolphin Booksellers will post the announcements.

Sue Martin – Dolphin Booksellers, best in children’s books, always on line.

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Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices
Children’s Book Award 2011

Helen Limon has won the 2011 Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award to Helen Limon for Om Shanti, Babe, a story about growing up, family and friendships that the judges described as ‘…fabulous . . . laugh-out-loud funny’.

dv 2011
The tale of teenage Cassia, who is forced to drop her preconceived ideas when she joins her mother on a business trip to south India, takes in fair trade and environmental issues alongside Cassia’s struggles to accept her mother’s new Indian partner, her spiky tussles with fashion-mad friend-to-be Priyanka and her crushes on pop star Jonny Gold and Dev, a boy she meets on a train.

Pictured: Helen Limon (2011 winner) Tom Avery (2010 winner – Too Much Trouble is published today) and Karon Alderman (2011 runner up)

The Award, was founded jointly by Frances Lincoln Limited and Seven Stories, the national centre for children’s books, in memory of Frances Lincoln (1945-2001) to encourage and promote diversity in children’s fiction.

The prize of £1,500 plus the option for Janetta Otter-Barry at Frances Lincoln Children’s Books to publish the novel is awarded to the best manuscript for eight to 12-year-olds that celebrates diversity in the widest possible sense.

Australian author Michelle Richardson received a Special Mention for Tek, a book about a young girl from the Aboriginal Australian Murrinh-Patha community who can communicate with the
ngepan, the spirits of the dead.

Tom Avery, was the winner of the award in 2010 also celebrated the publication on June 23rd of Too Much Trouble.

Sue Martin: Dolphin Booksellers the best in children’s books always on line.

Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Award

Time for sending your entries for the Diverse Voices Award. This is the third year that Frances Lincoln in partnership with Seven Stories will be searching through entries.

The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award promotes diversity in children’s books, it encourages new authors to write about aspects which touch children from all over the world. It enables books to be published which recognise and celebrate diversity.

The award is held in memory of Frances Lincoln who was an advocate for hearing the voice of children in all sorts of situations, especially those who were unable to access books and reading.

For the winner there is a prize of £1500 plus an option for Frances Lincoln to publish the novel.

The details are on the Seven Stories website, which is great site for a wander. There’s lots happening.

The winner of last year’s Diverse Voices Award was Tom Avery with Too Much Trouble

tmt

Closing date for entries is February 25th. So get writing, it’s worth it just to get that story finished!

Sue Martin Dolphin Booksellers – the best in children’s books always on line.

Winner of Diverse Voices Book Award

On the very top floor in the attic of Seven Stories, a group of people gathered to listen with excitement to the announcement of the Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Book Award. Set within a roof space of sturdy beams, interlocked together from the industrial past of this amazing building beside the canal, the atmosphere was wonderfully friendly with an electric buzz waiting to find out which book and which author had won.

‘ And the winner is….

Tom Avery for Too Much Trouble

A story of two brothers, Emmanuel and Prince. Emmanuel tells his story as he looks back on how events led to him holding a gun to a man’s head. The boys are forced to live on hand outs as their drug dealer uncle says they are too much trouble. They make an art of being unnoticed. But when they are forced to look after themselves they end up in a life of crime from which Emmanuel can see no way out.

ss team Short listed for the prize were, Remi Oyedele for Goal Dreams, Sue Stern for Rafi Brown and the Candy Floss Kid and Karon Alderman for Story Thief.

The judges were made up of a panel including the team at Seven Stories and they said that they had some excellent entries in this second year of the award.

The award was announced by John Nichol, Managing Director at Frances Lincoln and Janetta Otter Barry, said that she is looking forward to working with Tom on the future publishing of the book.

Our team from Dolphin Booksellers were delighted to be at the event and look forward to the publication of Too Much Trouble.

Dolphin Booksellers for information and children’s books, always on line.

The Frances Lincoln
Diverse Voices
Children’s Book Award 2010

The winner of the Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award for 2010 will be announced on Tuesday 8th June 2010 at Seven Stories in Newcastle upon Tyne .

Frances Lincoln Ltd, the award winning publisher, and Seven Stories, the Centre for Children’s Books, set up the award in memory of Frances Lincoln(1945- 2001).
It encourages and promotes diversity in children’s fiction.

From role models to different cultures and groups, it values the need for all children to be able to find themselves in a book and to widen horizons and aspirations.

Last year, 2009, Cristy Burne was the successful winner of the award for Takeshita Demons , a great start and an amazingly brilliant adventure story.

“ The demons are all real: Western cultures have vampires and werewolves and witches, Japanese people have kappa and oni and tengu. “ Says Cristy, who has now had the story published by Frances Lincoln in an amazingly colourful and vibrant book.

We were pleased to be invited to the Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award, watch this space to find out the winner for 2010.

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The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award

So good to have an award to celebrate diversity in children’s fiction. Frances Lincoln Ltd, the award winning publisher and Seven Stories, the Centre for Children’s Books announced the second Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award.

Its aim is to encourage and promote diversity in children’s fiction and is in memory of Frances Lincoln ( 1945 – 2001).

In the UK we have an amazing richness of cultures and people from all over the world. Children’s perceptions of the world are largely based on the environment around them, the friends they meet and the books they read. Books need to be relevant to children of today.

The Diverse Voices Award is in its second year and is for new writers, whose books ensure that heroes, heroines and the range of characters reflect our modern cultures. The manuscript must celebrate cultural diversity in the widest sense, either through the story, or the origins of the author.

There is a prize worth £1500 and an option for Frances Lincoln to publish the novel.

Last year’s winner was Christy Burne and there’s lots more information on her web page.

The fiction must be unpublished, between 15,000 and 35,000 words and written for 8 – 12 year olds, by a writer aged 16 or over.

All the details are on the Frances Lincoln and Seven Stories, where you will also find the entry forms.

If you already have an idea or have even started writing, there’s nothing to lose and lots to gain.

Dolphin Booksellers are delighted to be able to include this information on Dolphin Book Blog and make it available to a wide audience of Children’s Centres and schools.