Anglia Ruskin students shine in national awards
Children’s Book Illustration MA course enjoys Batsford and Macmillan success
Children’s Book Illustration Master’s students have wowed the judges at this year’s Batsford Prize and Macmillan Prize for Illustration, both announced yesterday, while talented graduates from the Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) course are in the running for two major illustration awards later this summer.
Students from the acclaimed course, based at ARU’s Cambridge School of Art, enjoyed a clean sweep in the Children’s Illustration category at this year’s Batsford Prize, organised by Pavilion Books.
The theme of this year’s competition was “Our Planet” and first place and a prize of £500 went to Kin Choi Lam for Hello Nomads, a book about three nomadic families. Runners-up prizes went to Cathy Eliot for A Book of Biophilia and Sidsel Lindhagen for Sometimes I Am.
Meanwhile, fellow ARU Children’s Book Illustration student Daniela Sosa was a runner-up in the Illustration category for Wildlife, and Evie Fridel (That Night) achieved a runner-up spot in the People's Choice Award, a category voted for by the public.
Yesterday also saw the announcement of the 2021 Macmillan Prize for Illustration. The competition, established in 1985, is open to students based in the UK and this year received 266 entries from 41 different universities and colleges.
Of the 25 highly commended entries, 18 came from students on the MA in Children’s Book Illustration course. And of ARU’s successful entries, Laura Winstone was named as the overall runner-up for The Catmolean Mewseum, while Yichun Ma finished third with My Quiet Dad.
Meanwhile, Eva Eland and Bethan Stevens, both recent graduates from the MA in Children’s Book Illustration course, are on the six-person shortlist in the Illustrated Books category at the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for their work Where Happiness Begins and The Grumpy Fairies.
The Illustrated Books category comes with a first prize of £2,000, with the overall winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2021 receiving an additional £3,000. The prize will be announced on Thursday, 1 July.
And later this summer, another pair of MA Children’s Book Illustration graduates – Flavia Z Drago and Rachel Stubbs – will be vying for the £5,000 Klaus Flugge Prize. Flavia is shortlisted for her book Gustavo the Shy Ghost, while Rachel is on the five-person shortlist for My Red Hat. The winner of the 2021 Klaus Flugge Prize will be announced on Wednesday, 15 September.
Shelley Ann Jackson, Course Leader for the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at ARU, said:
“We also have an amazing and ever-growing group of Children’s Book Illustration alumni, and we take great pleasure in watching their progress after graduation. We wish Bethan, Eva, Flavia and Rachel all the very best when the Klaus Flugge Prize and Waterstones Children’s Book Prize are announced later this summer.”