Booktrust’s prizes and awards
Booktrust administers a number of book prizes and awards for readers of all ages.
Young readers
Supported by Bookstart and the Unwin Foundation, the Booktrust Early Years Awards celebrate, publicise and reward the exciting range of books being published today for babies, toddlers and pre-school children. The awards are made in three categories: the best book for babies under one year old; the best picture book for pre-school children up to five years of age; and the best emerging illustrator of a book for pre-school children up to five years of age. The winners of each category receives a cheque for £2,000. In addition, the best emerging illustrator receives a specially commissioned award by a leading illustrator.
Founded by Michael Rosen as part of his work as Children’s Laureate 2007-09, the Roald Dahl Funny Prize is the first prize of its kind – founded to honour those books that simply make us laugh. The prize aims to promote laughter and humour as a feel-good factor when reading, by encouraging families to read together and discover the pleasure of humorous (funny) books. This in turn will reinforce the message that reading together promotes family well-being. We also want to reward and encourage authors (and illustrators) who write and illustrate books using humour in their stories, poetry and fiction. By creating these awards we hope to promote a vibrant area of publishing often overlooked by other awards.
Teenagers
Launched in 2003 to recognise and celebrate contemporary fiction written for teenager, the Booktrust Teenage Prize (which is judged by a mixed panel of adults and teenagers) has in the words of former judge Matt Whyman ‘fast become the benchmark for quality young people’s fiction in the UK.’ Previous winners are Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Anne Cassidy’s Looking for JJ and Patrick Ness’s The Knife of Never Letting Go.
Adults
Booktrust now administers two prizes that celebrate the achievement of short story writers, the BBC National Short Story Award and the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award.
Since their inception we have also administered the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Orange Award for New Writers - both for fiction by women writers.
The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize rewards the best work of literature (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama) by a UK or Commonwealth writer aged 35 or under. This important prize is awarded in honour of the writer John Llewellyn Rhys, who was killed in action in the Second World War. It was founded and first awarded in 1942 by John Llewellyn Rhys’s young wife, also a writer, who began the award to honour and celebrate his life. Past winners include Margaret Drabble (1966), William Boyd (1982), Jeanette Winterson (1987), Ray Monk (1990), Matthew Kneale (1992), David Mitchell (1999) and Sarah Hall (2006/07). Last year’s winner was Henry Hitchings for The Secret Life of Words.
Other prizes
Booktrust sponsors the Booktrust: Power of Reading Award as part of NIACE’s Adult Learners’ Week. The award is an opportunity to celebrate the contribution that books and reading give to adult learners by helping to improve their own or their family’s reading skills. Gerildine Talbot, the first winner, showed remarkable strength in overcoming a very difficult and disrupted childhood which left her illiterate. At the age of 43 she joined the East Leeds Family Learning Centre in Seacroft, Leeds. Within a year she had become a prominent member of the centre’s book club, achieved entry level 2 in literacy and attained basic level computer skills.
The Kim Scott Walwyn Prize recognises the professional achievements of women in publishing. The prize commemorates the life and career of Kim Scott Walwyn, who was a Publishing Director at Oxford University Press. She was an outstanding editor and generous and inspirational manager whose career was widely recognised and celebrated in many tributes during her life.
This project is run by Booktrust (United Kingdom)